Avatar: The Last Waterbender-Book One: Earth
by Terra Bird
Summary: Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed the extinction of the Water Tribes, and the new Avatar- a waterbender- has returned.
1. Chapter 1: The Southern Adventurers

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 1: The Southern Adventurers_

Toph sighed. The day was ending. Another day cooped up inside, unable to leave.

A breeze drifted through the open window, brushing her bangs against the blind girls face. The air grew cooler around her, and she figured the sun, the great bringer of warmth and light to sighted people, must be setting.

Being born blind, Toph had never been able to see the sun that those who could see worshipped so much. She had used her other finely tuned senses to figure out the general time of day. This was important on special nights like these, where Toph would do something her parents would be horrified to even think about- their little blind daughter would sneak away from the house and head to the underground arena known as Earth Rumble 6.

On her way there, Toph would hear things about the war that had been going on for the past 100 years. Even she, an over-protected twelve year old, knew the story of the war well. Her parents had warned her about it, telling her the story of the Avatar and how they would eventually return. They did it to keep her hopeful, but after 100 years they all knew it was hopeless. Toph recalled the story in her head:

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. They were angry at the other three nations for their pollution of the earth and rejection to their ways. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. Now today, 100 years later, we await the return of the Avatar. Although the time has been long, we must still believe the Avatar will return, and with their return, the peace that once existed in this world. _

Toph smirked. _As if someone could survive that long. _

The time had come- Toph could tell by the temperature in the air and the silence in her home that the time to leave was now. The blind girl threw on her uniform and replaced the thin, flowery headband she was forced to wear with a thicker, simpler one. Then, as silent as a Cat-Owl, she leaped out the window and onto the earth, her feet bare. She sighed happily, digging her toes into the earth.

Her feet picked up the vibrations around her, letting Toph visualize everything in the immediate vicinity. This way of sight she called her "seismic sense".

Searching around, she found the patch of earth that didn't have grass carefully coated over it. Quietly, Toph shoved her left heel into the ground, slamming her fists down and outward. A tunnel opened up before her, and the blind girl jumped inside, closing the opening above her.

The ground leveled out as Toph began walking, her prized possession strapped around her thin waist. It was a belt baring the symbol of the Earth Kingdom. It was the sign she was champion of the tournament she was headed to, the sign that she was the most highly respected earthbender around. Anyone who challenged her could expect an easy victory on her part. Usually one to be underestimated, it made Toph all the more proud when she proved herself.

Arriving at the underground entrance, she was greeted by guards. They tried every time to tell her where to wait, but she was not stupid and would figure it out alone.

Toph let herself in, opening the doors with her earthbending easily.

Moving to the tunnel where she would wait for the next half hour, Toph found her secret room. She had earthbent the place so she could safely hide her belt and go mingle in the crowd a little. People would recognize her of course, but not as many as one might think. She was an easily forgotten face, considering how popular she was. Her blindness was in fact a trademark, but one found it hard to discover her blind when her bangs covered her face most of the time.

Closing off the entrance to her secret room, Toph wandered out of her tunnel and into the crowd. They were bunched up outside the arena, filing in to get their seats. Toph blended in with the people, going virtually unnoticed. It wasn't always easy to navigate through this many vibrations, but Toph found a way. The blind girl would listen to gossip about who they thought would make it up to the champion. She loved to listen to their naive ideas of someone being good enough to beat her.

Toph was so consumed in her listening game that she ran straight into someone, knocking her to the ground. Judging by the vibrations, it was a guy about three years older than her. "Oops, sorry!" He exclaimed, offering her his hand.

Ignoring the gesture entirely, Toph earthbent a pillar of earth to give her momentum in jumping up from her position on the ground. The boy stepped back, startled. A girl, maybe a year younger than him judging by her footsteps, walked up next to the boy. "Sokka, if your done running little girls over with your clumsiness, can we please find a seat?"

The boy named Sokka was about to lash out with a sarcastic retort when the girl continued. "I'm sorry for my brother," she said to Toph. "He can be a little... Careless, sometimes."

"Whatever," Toph replied indifferently, waving her hand. The girl didn't seem to feel that a suitable answer. The continued, a hint of irritation in her voice. "My name's Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka. We're from the Souther Water Tribe."

Toph froze, afraid her sensitive ears had actually heard something wrong. "Where did you say you were from?"

The girl, Katara, seemed slightly uncomfortable. "The Southern Water Tribe. Or at least, that's what our father called it. We've never really been there, but our dad says it's a beautiful place full of waterbenders, like me."

Toph was seriously starting to think she needed her hearing checked. Was she losing her ability to hear as well? Or was this girl just insane?

"You're a _waterbender?_" Toph asked incredulously. Katara nodded slowly, but Toph didn't see that. She waited a moment before repeating the question. Katara seemed irritated again. "I just said yes." She replied impatiently. Toph looked in the general direction she expected the girl's face to be. "I didn't hear anything."

Katara seemed to notice her eyes, because she quickly froze and apologized quickly. Toph attempted rolling her eyes, which seemed to work. "I don't need your apology." She stated simply. "I just want an answer to my question."

"Yes, I am a waterbender." Katara answered finally. "Is there such a crime against that?" Toph was about to respond when an explosive sound rang through the arena. "Welcome, benders and non-benders to Earth Rumble 6!"

The crowd cheered. Sokka grabbed Katara's shoulder. "Come on, we need to get to our seats." He dragged his sister away, but not before the girl could grab Toph's wrist. "You can come sit with us. I'm sure your parents will be fine with it."

Toph doubted this. If her parents knew she had been dragged away by two strangers in an earthbending arena, they would lose their heads. She followed them nonetheless, feeling slightly rebellious.

They sat down in the front row, a mistake noted when the trio was showered with rubble. Toph earthbent the dust off of her, but her two companions spent a few moments dusting themselves off.

Katara acted as Toph's eyes, explaining with detail everything that was going on in the ring, even though Toph could "see" it with her feet.

Sokka was cheering throughout the entire match for one person- some wimp who went by the name of "The Boulder". Toph silently examined this fighter, noting his every move and reading his strategies before he executed them. Chances were, judging by the way things were looking, he would be her opponent tonight.

The matches dragged on. Sokka's cheering was hurting Toph's ears, and Katara's constant babbling was starting to get annoying. The championship match was nearing, and Toph was beginning to think sitting with these two supposed "Southern Water Tribe" natives was a mistake. Finally, the last match before the championship ended.

Katara looked over to her left, expecting to see her new young friend, but was greeted with a nice absence. She gasped. "Sokka! Sokka, she's gone!"

Sokka stopped his cheering a moment and glanced to his left. "Oh yeah, I suppose she is."

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka this is serious! In case you hadn't noticed, _she's blind!_ She's going to get lost out there, probably off looking for her parents-"

A loud voice interrupted Katara. "And now, the moment you've all been waiting for... The Boulder versus The Blind Bandit!" Katara almost fell over in disbelief when she saw who The Boulder was facing.

Toph had made it away from Katara and her brother moments ago, and now stood on her end of the ring, facing The Boulder. She could practically feel the "waterbender's" stare from where she stood. This wasn't too terribly off because her seismic sense told her Katara was in fact staring at her.

"The Boulder wonders what a young girl is doing playing with the _real_ earthbenders." The Boulder said, demonstrating his poor vocabulary and grammar.

Toph just snickered. "I could ask _you_ the same thing." The Boulder seemed to find her annoying, and replied "The Boulder no longer cares about his opponent, and is ready to crush you with a boulder!"

"Bring it on, Dirt-Face!" Toph let out an almost maniacal laugh.

The Blind Bandit stood in a casual stance, not preparing any specific stance. The Boulder seemed to be thinking of the best way to take his opponent down. Finally, he stepped forward, arms out, palms up, and fingers curved. He began to slowly raise his arms.

Toph saw the attack coming. She slid gracefully into a stance, right leg stepping forward, arms out, elbows tucked under her shoulders, and stiff, straight fingers aiming at the ceiling. She then pointed her fingers down to counter-attack The Boulder's offense.

Seeing that his initial attack was to end in failure, he leaned forward on his left foot, shifting his left arm down and his right up. The ground beneath The Blind Bandit trembled and split between her feet, one raising her left foot up and her left down. Toph casually stepped onto the higher rock and stomped her foot, smashing it back into the earth. She then fell into a simple horse stance and raised her left arm, punching forward with her right fist. A boulder raised from the ground and flew at Toph's opponent. This was a mere distraction as she sent a pillar of rock into his back.

The Boulder flew out of the ring, landing on his backside.

The Blind Bandit smiled and raised her fist triumphantly in the air as the owner of the arena, Xin Fu, announced her victory. "Your winner, and _still_ champion, The Blind Bandit!"

The tournament ended, people collecting prize money from their bets. The arena closed down for the week and Toph headed back to her secret room. She wasn't surprised to find it untouched. She was surprised to find two very familiar people in the tunnel leading to it.

"What were you doing out there?!" Katara scolded. "You could've gotten hurt, or-"

Toph walked right past her. "Please, I'm the champion of this ring. There is no way anyone could've beaten me."

Toph didn't return to her room. It was unnecessary considering she had the belt with her anyways. Who did this girl think she was? Her _mother_?

"Why do you even care? We met half an hour ago and you already treat me like a helpless _child_." Toph continued angrily.

She heard a sigh from Katara. "I just don't think it's a good idea for a girl your age to be rough housing with giant sweaty guys."

Toph turned on the girl. "Well you obviously don't know me. I can take care of myself." She continued walking down the tunnel. Unfortunately, the duo followed.

"Look, _Blind Bandit_, I know that just because you beat The Boulder that you think your an amazing earthbender, but your victory must have been result of him going easy on you." Sokka added, reassuring himself.

Toph gave up on arguing with these two. It's not like it mattered. After tonight, they would never see her again. She decided to explain her earlier misgivings instead.

"You two said you were waterbenders?" She asked. Sokka replied "Just her. I'm a non-bender." Toph shrugged and turned to Katara. "You're a waterbender and your from the Southern Water Tribe? Or have relatives from there?"

Katara nodded. "We're still figuring it all out." Toph shook her head absentmindedly and continued. "But the war, it-"

"What war?" Sokka inquired. The earthbender stared at him, wondering what cave he'd been living in for the past 100 years. She decided to drop the subject. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. I should probably get home anyway."

Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance. Sokka looked back at the blind girl before him. "You wouldn't mind if we stayed with you for the night, would you?" This question got him an immediate slap in the face from Katara. "You don't ask it like that!"

"To be honest, yes, I would mind." Toph stated flatly. Sokka got down on his knees to beg, and Katara groaned. "Please? We've no where to stay and it's been a long time since..." Blah blah blah his begging went on for a good five minutes until Toph had enough. "_Alright! Fine! _You two can stay with me tonight. Just... Be silent. My parents don't know I leave at night and they don't care for strangers."

Sokka hugged her out of purely gratitude. Toph blushed slightly and pushed him off of her roughly. She led the way back to her home.

_The next morning..._

Toph woke up on the floor of her room where she had slept. She wondered why she had slept there before recalling the previous night's events.

Suddenly remembering the two strangers in her house, she jumped to her feet and checked for any guards- none. The lightly woke up Katara, then punched Sokka in the back to wake him up. For some reason, he didn't seem like an early-riser.

Both woke up, however they went about it. "Toph, what's your problem?! What time is it?" Having learned her name the night before, Sokka angrily called out his question, including her name. Toph smacked a hand over his mouth, motioning for him to be silent. She then motioned to the window, and the two understood. They leaped out the window, and after a moments hesitation, Toph followed.

"Alright," Toph started in a whisper. "The guards will be out this morning. Usually, I don't have a problem sneaking around, but since this is a party of three we need to be extra careful." The blind earthbender could feel the early morning mist clinging to her skin. She wondered what it looked like for an instant- but no image appeared in her head. She just wasn't a person who did well with visuals.

Katara stared at Toph excitedly. "Are you coming with us?" The girl shook her head. "I can only take you as far as the estate walls. You'll need to find a way over- my guess is, since you sighted people have some weird way of seeing better in the morning, that it's a bad idea for me to try to earthbend you out."

Katara and Sokka both gave off disappointed vibes, and Toph could tell they were really sincere about wanting her to come with them. But that didn't matter. No matter how much Toph wanted to, she would never be able to leave freely from her home- her prison. She sighed and turned to the Water Tribe natives. "Let's get moving."

The trio made their way through the expansive garden, over a bridge and passed a few hedges. When they finally made it to the wall, Sokka, Katara, and Toph said their goodbyes. Toph knelt with her feet off the ground, trying to numb the feelings of loss she felt as these two left her. _You could go with them,_ a voice in her head told her. _Who's to know? You could be dead for all they assume. It's not like they think you can take care of yourself..._

Toph removed these ridiculous thoughts from her head as she nodded at her two friends- or attempted to, rather. She didn't want to let go of the first friends she had, but felt it was much past time they took their leave.

Much to their misfortune, Toph was proved right when a few guards rounded a hedge, staring at the scene with dismay- Two strangely dressed people with a blind twelve year old girl between them.

Toph didn't try to earthbend them away when they captured Sokka and Katara, guiding her away with them. She just followed obediently and quietly after her first friends and the guards. To her parents quarters they went.

The guards held Katara and Sokka's elbows firmly, but the two made no effort to escape. Toph followed along behind, guided by another pair of guards. Toph kept her face calm, but inside, she was terrified for the two Water Tribe acquaintances. She knew her parents wouldn't take kindly to strangers- especially if they claimed to know their daughter. She would have a lot of explaining to do.

The guards knocked on the doors leading to her parents' lair. There was a muffled reply, and the guards stepped inside with their prisoners. Inside, a man and a woman sat on two very intricate looking chairs. Their faces were stiff and condescending, and they sat tall and straight.

The two stared down at Sokka and Katara with cold eyes, disapproving frowns permanently plastered on their faces. Toph noticed for the first time the nervous vibrations of her "Master" Yu standing near her parents. What was _he _doing here? Toph didn't even need him. For all she knew, _she _could've been _his _Master. Correction- she _should've _been. But her façade was strictly kept for fear of losing the few freedoms she had. Toph's attention was dragged back to the present when her father spoke. "Who are these low-life scoundrels and why are they in my house?" The guard was about to speak when Katara stepped forward.

"My name is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am the Avatar."


	2. Chapter 2: Airbenders at Beifong Estate

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. They were angry at the other three nations for their pollution of the earth and rejection to their ways. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"Oops, Sorry!"_

_"Sokka, if your done running little girls over with your clumsiness, can we please find a seat?"_

_"My name's Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka. We're from the Southern Water Tribe."_

_"But the war, it-"_

_"What war?"_

_"My name is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am the Avatar."_

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 2: Airbenders at Beifong Estate_

Toph's eyes widened. The _Avatar_? This just wasn't possible. She inclined her head from it's slight tilt towards the floor and listened closely for the responses her parents would give. Both were silent for a moment, but then Toph's father spoke.

"The Avatar? But that's preposterous! You'd have to be over 100 years old!" Katara replied, denying this. "Not necessarily. My great-grandfather and great-grandmother were both waterbenders, but not another waterbender was born into our family until me. I'm not sure why another waterbender wasn't born as the Avatar, but I suppose the Spirits decided it must be me." Katara finished her explanation. Toph's father looked confused. This girl clearly didn't know about the genocide of her people. Neither of the adults said anything, but there was a strangling silence in the air that was finally broken when the blind girl's mother spoke.

"You two must be awfully hungry, to have traveled such a long way on foot."

Sokka looked very excited about the words he knew would come, but Katara interrupted the woman. "Actually, we traveled here on my Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish. Would you like to meet her?" The Avatar continued, pulling out a strange object in the shape of what looked to be some animal.

Toph's mother denied as kindly as she could. "Oh no, that's alright. No need to make her walk further than she already has. Why don't you and your brother stay for a while, Avatar Katara? We will be having breakfast within the hour."

Katara was about to reply when an all-too-eager Sokka budded in. "That would be great! Thank you for your hospitality." He added the last part after a glare from his sister.

_Great_. Toph thought. _Now I have to put up with these two for even longer. Not only that, but I have to make sure they don't leak any information about my Earth Rumble life. _

Toph was interrupted from her thoughts by her father's voice. "Guards, will you escort the Avatar and her brother to the guest room, and Toph to hers? They will be staying with us for a while, so please make us feel welcome."

The guards didn't object as they guided the two Water Tribe natives to their room and Toph to hers, right around a corner.

As soon as the guards left her alone in her room, Toph changed out of her nighttime clothes and into some overly-complicated, intricately designed silk dress that she couldn't even see. For this, she was almost glad. She probably looked like the most ridiculous thing in the world anyway.

Placing a thin headband on her head, she stepped out of her room. Turning the corner of the hallway, she went to stand in the archway of the guest room. She felt Katara turn, surprised to see her in such a getup. Sokka also seemed surprised, but indifferent at the same time, like he didn't care much for anything the blind girl did. This made Toph slightly upset, but she ignored the pointless feeling.

"We need to talk." Toph started, her feet making sure there were no other vibrations around. Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance, then sat down on the one bed pushed to the side of the room. Toph leaned against the opposite wall, arms folded.

"I know you two are still surprised from last night, so I guess it's necessary for my explanation." The Water Tribe duo nodded, then Katara agreed out loud.

"Well..." Toph started, once again making sure there was no one around. Nothing. No vibrations. It was awfully quiet...

"I learned to earthbend when I was little. I was taught how to sense vibrations in the earth. It's sorta like using my feet to see."

Toph made sure they were listening, once again checking for anyone nearby. Then she continued. "Earthbending gives me a different way of sight. I don't have to be distracted by other things like sighted people would, like those things you call colors. I also operate in any 'light' as you put it."

Sokka and Katara agreed that this seemed an ideal substitute for eyesight. Then Toph turned away, leaning on the wall on her left side, arms folded. "My parents just don't get it. They can't comprehend the concept, and they've always treated me like I couldn't take care of myself. They don't know anything about my Earth Rumble tournaments. They think I only know the basics of earthbending." _Boy are they wrong_, Toph thought to herself with a small snigger.

"They can't ever know. It's the only freedom I have, and not much at that." The Blind Bandit turned back to the siblings, who were exchanging sympathetic looks. "So you can't mention anything about it to my parents, or anyone at all."

Sokka and Katara nodded, Sokka speaking out loud. "We promise."

Toph turned away again, closing her eyes. "Good." She sounded tired, as if this had been bothering her for a while.

• • •

Sokka stood up as Toph left the room. He yawned and stretched, rolling his shoulders. "Well this is nice. I didn't know that your magical spirit connection or whatever could get us the _royal treatment."_

Katara rolled her eyes. "Sokka, it's not _magic_ it's _bending_."

Sokka waved a hand indifferently. "Yeah, yeah, same thing."

Katara was about to retort when an abrupt explosion shook the entire building. The siblings exchanged a glance and ran out of the room. They followed the corridor down to another room where dust still hung in the air. The estate guards were unconscious and littered about on the floor. The main attraction, however, was the blind earthbender standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by airbenders. She stood in a fighting stance: left foot forward, elbows tucked, forearms out, palms up and fingers stiffly pointed towards the ceiling. She waited for the first sign of movement.

She didn't look up when Sokka and Katara entered the room. Neither did the airbenders. They simply stood still, as if at a stalemate. That's when a voice echoed through the air, sounding young but threatening nonetheless.

"I know you're here, Avatar." Katara and Sokka backed into the shadows. The airbenders in the center of the room gave no indication they saw them. The voice sounded clearly again. "Ah, there you are."

Katara froze, until she realized the enemy still hadn't noticed them yet. Suddenly, with a powerful gust of wind, a boy, looking no more than twelve, landed before Toph and his fellow airbenders. Blue arrows tattooed his body, including his bald head. He wore traditional Air Nomad clothing, the orange and pale yellow irritating Katara's eyes. He stood before the group, staring with a look of loathing in his eyes at Toph. The only movement was a slight shuffle as the blind girl angled her feet towards the new arrival.

Katara drew in a breath quietly. She saw Toph turn her head ever so slightly, seeming to catch the small sound with her exceptional hearing. All the while, the boy spoke. "I've scoured the world, Avatar, looking for you. I suppose it should've been my best guess that you would be an earthbender after all these years. No matter. You're here now and are my prisoner."

Toph curled and uncurled her fingers. "You have. The wrong. Girl." She stated slowly, venom dripping through her words. The airbender only laughed. "Nonsense. The only way you could win an Earth Rumble tournament with your condition is if you were the all powerful Avatar them self. Toph replied with a smirk. "You'd be surprised what a blind earthbender could do." She dug her heel into the earth, preparing for an attack, Katara assumed. She stepped forward, about to reveal herself.

That's when the earth grew up around the siblings' ankles. Katara noticed Toph raising base of her palms slightly, curled fingers moving down. The waterbender noticed similar things happening to all the airbenders, including the leader. Sokka almost have away their position, but Katara clamped a hand over his mouth.

Toph had a plan, and everyone in that room knew it. They just didn't know what it was, or how crazy and dangerous it was to end up being. Fighting broke loose, airbenders freeing their feet of the shackles and blasting air at the earthbender in the middle of the room.

Toph leaned back on her right foot, raising her arms upwards and turning them clockwise. Earth shot up around her in a spiral, defending her entirely.

Katara and Sokka watched in amazement as it crumbled to dust and Toph slid her left foot as far forward as it would go, leaning her chest on it. She slammed her fists into the earth and it shuddered, unbalancing the usually nimble enemy. She assumed a horse stance and raises her arms dramatically, fingers aiming down. She then brought her arms down at a diagonal, down and to the left. Earth pillars erupted from the floor, launching a few of the slower airbenders into the air. Some landed dangerously close to Katara and Sokka, who still had his mouth covered by his sister's hand. Toph became aware of how they were nearing the Avatar and her brother. She began to execute her plan.

The Blind Bandit slowed down, acting as if she were tired or needed a rest from the fighting. Katara watched in horror; she had no idea about Toph's plan and was fearful for her new friend. The girl was suddenly carried off of her feet and thrown violently against a wall by one of the leader's attacks. She hit it with a sickening thud and slid to the floor. Toph smiled secretly. They were buying it. Two airbenders locked their hands onto her elbows, and she feigned a weak struggle as she was brought before the leader. The airbender to Toph's right asked "What would you like us to do with her, Aang?"

The leader, Aang, tapped his finger thoughtfully against his shoulder, his arms crossed. "Lock her up. We don't want to kill her. No, she'll just be reborn again. Make sure she has nothing to bend. No let's go."

Aang marched out through the massive hole in the wall first, followed by Toph's two captors. Katara stared in horror as they marched Toph out of the building.

• • •

Everything was going perfectly. Toph had the airbenders right where she wanted them. She held the rock in her sleeve, small enough to go unnoticed but big enough to do the job she needed it to. It was all going smoothly until she heard a desperate call from behind her- one that made Toph go rigid with shock and frustration. Nothing could ever go her way, could it?

"Wait!" Katara shouted, yanking her feet from the earth confinements. Toph reacted immediately. She dug her right heel into the earth before her, then swiped it upwards, dragging a pillar of rock up with it. The pillar separated Katara and Sokka from the rest of the enemy, Toph twisting out of their grip. She raised the earth beneath her so she stood a considerable height above the level ground. She launched herself into the sky with a little help from her earthbending, then came down on the pillar hard, knees slightly bent. Toph's spire flew down into the earth as if it fit inside like a splinter from a wooden floorboard. All of the airbenders were either knocked into the sky and far away or knocked to the ground. The ones that lasted were quickly taken out by earthbending on Toph's part until it was only her and Aang left. The blind girl turned towards him.

"I see you've mastered earthbending, Avatar." Aang taunted. "But what about the other elements?"

Toph rolled her eyes. "I'm not the Avatar!" To prove her point she lowered the rock wall hiding Sokka and Katara. Toph aimed a finger at Katara. "She is! Waterbender, first class! Now get out of my backyard!" She shot a spire of earth at the airbender, who only dodged. She shot boulder after boulder at him, until he got close enough for close combat.

Toph ducked as Aang aimed a fist at her eye. The blind girl noted the shift in his weight and the angle of his feet, both showing her he was just aiming to get around her. Toph lifted the earth beneath him slightly into the air. She was about to throw him when she heard what sounded like a whip covered in oil, and then Aang, who had been in the air, reentered Toph's seismic range. Realizing Katara had used her waterbending, Toph let go of any doubt she had of the Avatar and continued fighting. They pushed Aang back, Sokka helping out with close combat and some weapon he called a 'Boomerang'.

Realizing he had no chance at a victory, Aang backed off. "This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!" And with that, the airbender opened something with a clicking sound and left Toph's seismic range with a gust of wind.

The trio stood there for a moment, still trying to gather their bearings on the recent happenings. That's when Toph's mother and father stepped out of the shadows of their damaged home. Both looked furious.

• • •

"You need to explain yourself, young lady." Toph's dad spoke in a distasteful tone. Toph wouldn't even look in her parent's general direction as she replied. "Well, I think we can all agree I'm an earthbender." She responded in a matter-of-factly tone. Her father snorted. "Just look at what you've become, Toph. A helpless little girl into a careless, rogue figure of coarse manner. You are a disgrace to this family and all of our traditions. You've disappointed us."

Toph held her ground. "All you ever wanted me to be was the perfect little girl. The lost, fragile, helpless creature that I never was. You can't force me into that, no matter how well I fake it. Dad, I'm _twelve_ years old and I've never had a friend. You say I'm the disgrace? _I_ haven't disappointed _you_, dad. _You've_ _failed me._"

This angered the man, and the woman at his side shook her head, disappointed in her daughters behavior. "We love you, Toph." Her mom said. "But this is for your own good. You must never be let out of the house again."

Toph stomped her foot in frustration. "You always say that! All I want is for someone to listen to _me_ for a change. Ask what _I_ have to say about something. You want to keep me locked up, that's something you'll have to get over." She turned away. "I'm leaving."

Her parents sat dumbfounded. No one, not even their own _daughter_, had ever spoken to them this way before. "No-" Toph's father started, but he was interrupted by The Blind Bandit once more.

"I'm leaving, and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm going with Katara and Sokka. At least I know they'll give me a _choice_."

_Toph's father tried to send the guards after them, but the trio was already long gone, far into the woods near the city of Gaoling. The Avatar was gone, and with her, a blind twelve year old girl who had never been allowed outside the walls of her own home._


	3. Chapter 3: First Time Almost Flying

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. They were angry at the other three nations for their pollution of the earth and rejection to their ways. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"My name's Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka. We're from the Southern Water Tribe."_

_"The Avatar? But that's preposterous! You'd have to be over 100 years old!" _

_"I learned to earthbend when I was little. I was taught how to sense vibrations in the earth. It's sorta like using my feet to see."_

_"I've scoured the world, Avatar, looking for you. I suppose it should've been my best guess that you would be an earthbender after all these years. No matter. You're here now and are my prisoner."_

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"I'm leaving, and there's nothing you can do about it. I'm going with Katara and Sokka. At least I know they'll give me a choice." _

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 3: First Time Almost Flying_

Toph sat around the camp fire with her new friends. They were laughing about something, but Toph couldn't remember what. All she knew was that she was happy. Probably even happier than the time she first won Earth Rumble 6. She had shown her parents who she truly was, and even though they hadn't accepted her, she had given them a new view of her. She wasn't the poor, helpless blind girl she had acted as for twelve years. She was the strong, independent person she'd hidden for all that time. It felt good to finally be free.

Katara leaned back on her backpack, glancing over at the new addition to team Avatar. Toph sat hugging her knees close to herself. She was smiling. Katara didn't know if it was from Sokka's first funny joke ever, or from the fact that she'd finally stood up to her prison wardens. Possibly both. The Avatar stared up at the darkening sky as stars poked their way across the sky. She wondered what her Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish, Kyana, was doing. Probably swimming in a big, clean lake. Katara smiled at the thought. She would call Kyana in the morning.

Sokka stared around at his sister and new friend, a stupid grin plastered on his face. He knew Katara was thinking about her best friend, Kyana. Sokka always found it strange how she had such a special connection with animals. It almost made him feel bad when he ate meat. Almost. He wouldn't give up meat or sarcasm for anything.

"So, you're the Avatar." Toph's words were more of a statement than a question. "And your a waterbender. I guess that means you'll be learning earthbending next, huh?"

Katara nodded. "Yeah, I guess. I should probably try to find an earthbending master."

Toph huffed. She waved her hand over her head. "Um, hello? Greatest Earthbender in the World right here!"

Katara's face reddened with embarrassment when she remembered this girl was The Blind Bandit and champion of an earthbending arena known as Earth Rumble 6. "Oh, right. Sorry." Sokka laughed at his sister's ignorance.

Toph unwrapped one arm from around her legs and sifted her fingers through the soil beneath her. She then lay down on her back, feet sitting just before the fire. An awkward silence engulfed the trio, then Sokka sighed loudly. "Well, I'm going to bed. You two... Whatever, just be quiet. Good night." The Water Tribe warrior slipped into his sleeping bag, falling asleep quickly.

The two girls sat for a while, neither making a sound. Katara eventually stated she too was heading off to bed, and asked Toph if she needed anything to sleep in or with. The blind girl shook her head in reply, sitting up cross-legged and shoving her stiff arms out to her sides. Two slanted slabs of earth shot out at either of Toph's sides, colliding a over her head. The Blind Bandit sprawled out on her back, one arm on her stomach, preparing to sleep.

Katara looked at her, feeling as if she should at least give the blind girl a blanket. Deciding against it, the Avatar rolled up in her sleeping bag, the embers of the remaining fire dying out at her feet.

Early the next morning, Toph's earth tent exploded. Katara sat up in alarm, only to discover the earthbender standing up, stretching. The Avatar groaned and lay back down, closing her eyes. Toph studied the two sleeping siblings, wondering what it would take to get them up.

They needed to be on the move- the airbenders were still in the area, their obnoxiously light footsteps hard to find- not to mention the Beifong estate guards that would be scouring the area for Toph and her friends.

Discovering through her pattern of breathing that Katara was only semi-asleep, the earthbender prodded her awake until the waterbender sat up. Sokka, on the other hand, was sleeping deeply, drool dripping into the earth beneath his head. Toph wrinkled her nose in disgust before launching Sokka into the sky with an earth spire. Screaming bloody murder, the boy flew into the air, falling back to earth with a heavy _thud_.

Fully awake and irritated, Sokka hopped around in his sleeping bag, trying to shed the extra layer, grumbling incoherently. Meanwhile, Toph explained her misgivings.

"We need to start moving. I can feel the airbenders searching for us a little ways off." She slammed her heel into the earth for emphasis. "They're not very close, but we need to get out of here."

Katara smiled knowingly to herself. "I can get us a ride."

Toph thought this was good. How the Avatar could get them travel so easily she didn't know, but then Katara pulled out a strange object. Toph couldn't see it, but she could sense the Katara moving it up to her lips. Suddenly, there was a sharp, extremely high pitched noise amplified by Toph's exceptionally able ears. She covered them with irritation, but Katara didn't notice as she blew her whistle a few more times.

Toph suddenly snatched the thing from Katara's hand. "Would you cut that out? That's extremely agitating." The blind earthbender moved the thing around in her fingers. "What _is_ this thing anyway?"

The Avatar snatched it back. "That's my whistle! Besides, how can it be agitating? It scarcely makes a sound!"

Toph shook her head. If Katara wanted to be ignorant, she supposed it wasn't her problem. The blind earthbender turned to Sokka, who was just finishing packing up his backpack. He covered the ashes of the fire with dirt, scooping up the ash and dispersing it around the campsite. Sokka kicked around at the dirt for a while until he seemed to be content with the results.

The group meandered around, packing for a good ten minutes, until Toph heard a loud snarl from somewhere above her, as well as a splintering of wood. The Water Tribe siblings didn't seem surprised, but Toph was spinning around frantically, trying to find the source of the sound.

Suddenly, the creature entered Toph's seismic range, and she was startled to sense it. It must have been enormous. It's vibrations were evenly spread in a large area, as well as strangely heavier on one end. There was a spitting-hissing-strangling sound, and Katara laughed and ran up to the creature. "Kyana!" She cried happily. This left Toph utterly confused.

"What is that thing?" She asked Sokka, who stood by indifferently. "Oh, just Katara's pet Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish, Kyana. They're like, best friends or something. Kyana's like Katara's animal guide or whatever. It's an Avatar thing." He concluded. A strange creature, Toph decided.

Katara suddenly disappeared from Toph's seismic range, and for a second, she was afraid Kyana had eaten her or something. Then she heard the Avatar's voice calling to her from where she presumed to by atop Kyana.

"Sokka! Toph! Come on!" Sokka threw his bag up onto the great beast while Toph cautiously made her way over. She heard a grunting sound from Kyana and immediately backed off. Katara, who suddenly seemed to remember that Toph was blind, hopped off of the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish and guided Toph slowly onto Kyana's back. The earthbender shivered as her feet left the ground. She was officially blind. Not only that- her friends seemed to forget. Toph couldn't decide if she minded that or not.

Katara stared at Toph as she searched for something to hold onto. An intricate saddle lay upon Kyana's back, curving with her lithe body. The animal had a feline body, powerful paws gripping the earth beneath her, her white fur dappled with black spots. Clear-ish-blue growths of thin, papery skin sprouted from the calves of the creature and the tip of her tail. The skin, as Katara knew from experience, was used as wings, enabling the creature to glide from a place to a place. Kyana's paws were webbed, helping her swim through water just as swiftly as she could run across land. Her eyes were a sharp, icy blue, seeming to pierce any gaze that fell into them- with the exception of Toph's, if she ever happened to look into the creature's eyes.

Katara sat on Kyana's shoulders, just beyond the saddle where Sokka and Toph sat, the blind earthbender clutching the edge of the saddle for dear life. Sokka seemed amused by the spunky girl's sudden change in attitude.

Katara ignored this and made sure everything was ready to go. Finally, she grasped fistfuls of Kyana's fur and told her to get going.

Kyana took off at a high speed, dashing through the forest away from their camp. Katara looked back to see how her two companions were faring.

Sokka lay with his back against the raised edge of the saddle, examining his finger nails and completely ignoring the ghostly pale blind girl on his right. She gripped the edge off the saddle with such force, Katara could see the thick leather wrinkling beneath her fingers. Toph sat rigid and terrified of the thought of falling off. Katara was sympathetic towards the girl. Of course, with her special connection to the earth, leaving the ground would terrify her. Every time Kyana made a jump and glided down to a lower level of land, it was almost like they were flying. If it was this bad to be on something connected to the ground, it must've been much worse to leave it entirely. This was her first time (almost) flying, but Katara didn't make any move to comfort her.

In fact, it even irritated her that the blind girl was so uncomfortable riding Kyana. Couldn't she just be grateful they had a ride?

Katara shook her head to clear it of those ridiculous thoughts. She had to stay on task and get the three (four if you counted Kyana) of them to safety.

Forgetting her earlier irritation, Katara announced to the group. "I think we should go to the Southern Water Tribe. I want to meet some more waterbenders! And," she added towards Sokka. "We can see the place our great-grandparents grew up before they migrated to the Earth Kingdom."

Toph's sightless eyes widened. She'd forgotten they didn't know about the war. "Um, guys?" She could feel their gazes turn on her, and she swallowed slowly, her voice already shaky from riding the giant Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish. "You don't know about it, do you?" She continued quietly. "The war?"

Sokka and Katara exchanged questioning glances. Toph's question was, once again, more of a statement. The blind earthbender continued. "I can't believe it. I mean, what _rock_ have you guys been living under for the past _100 years?_ I've spent my entire life inside my house, and even I know about the war!"

Sokka was the first to speak up. "Are you sure you're not going crazy? If there was a war, we would know about it. Katara is the Avatar, after all."

Toph rolled her eyes (or, tried to). It had the desired effect. "That has nothing to do with it! The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"

Katara called over from her spot on Kyana's shoulders. "We never heard about any war in Ba Sing Se." Toph realized that was the problem. Ba Sing Se was a city of strict rules and secrets. No one was ever to know about the war so as not to disturb their peaceful lives. They would live those same lives oblivious to anything outside of the city walls. Toph knew that much simply from overhearing Earth Rumble contestants chatting about it like Flying Lemurs. She couldn't imagine how bad it was in real life.

"Ba Sing Se?" Toph started carefully. "That place is just a huge group of buildings surrounded on all sides by tall, durable walls. Of course you wouldn't know anything about the war. No one in Ba Sing Se does. That whole city lives in one big lie!"

Katara snapped at the girl. "If you're going to insult the place we grew up, you should at least use a better example." Sokka, on the other hand, seemed intrigued and disgusted at the same time. "You mean, this whole time, Katara and I have been... Lied to?" Way to state it dramatically, Sokka.

"That's not even the _worst_ part." Toph didn't know how to approach the subject of the slaughter of the Water Tribes. Katara seemed determined to prove her wrong, and the earthbender was fearful for the non-bender's unpredictable reaction as well. But she had to start at some point.

"All of the people who lived in the Water Tribes-" "Enough!" Katara barked, startling them all. "This is all just some big lie that your parents told you to keep you from straying from home. The Air Nomads are caring people. There's no way they would just go against everything they believe in!"

Toph just shook her head. She didn't usually give in to anyone, but it was kind of hard to deal with a person who has been reincarnated thousands of times. Katara could ignore her if she wanted to. It wasn't really Toph's problem. She just hoped Katara didn't lose it when she found out about the genocide of her people.

The trio rode on in silence for awhile, Katara completely focused on steering Kyana in the right direction. Toph gripped the side of the saddle with much less ferocity than before, and Sokka lay on his back on the opposite side of the saddle to Toph. They rode on for hours, only stopping when Kyana needed water (It's hard to keep a creature that has the properties of underwater life on land).

The group ignored the callings of their stomachs for lunch. The rode on until sunset, only stopping an hour after the sun had gone down. They began to set up camp.

Katara stroked Kyana's fur as the beast collapsed on her side from exhaustion. Toph set up her little area a little ways away from the campfire and the two siblings. Sokka just unrolled his sleeping bag and collected wood for the fire he planned to make. The warrior pulled out his spark rocks and clicked them together. A small flame appeared moments later, and it grew as Sokka blew air onto it, creating a warm fire form him and his girl companions. He looks over to his right to see Katara petting her Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish, and to his left to see Toph in her little earth tent.

"Fire's ready!" He announced proudly. Nothing happened. Neither of the girls reacted, and he figured they must not have heard him. He was about to shout it louder, when he was launched into the air by and earth pillar from beneath his feet. Screaming, he fell to the ground, hitting Katara.

"Hey!" The Avatar shouted angrily. "Watch where you throw people, Toph!"

The blind girl only smirked. "Sorry, _Sweetness_, next time I'll figure out where he's going to land." The waterbender stiffened at Toph's retort. "_What_ did you just call me? _Sweetness_?! What's that supposed to mean?"

Toph waved her off. "I'd say it fits your attitude pretty well." Katara snickered. "Ha! You barely know me and are already judging my attitude?"

Toph was about to reply with a sassy remark when Sokka got up to stand between the two benders. "Calm down you two, you're just tired! I know you guys are both really annoyed with each other right now, but we need to calm down and just sleep. We've got a long day ahead of us if we want to get to the Southern Water Tribe in the next few days, and your bickering will just keep Kyana awake." The animal backed him up with a low purring sound.

Toph and Katara turned away from each other, arms crossed indignantly. "Whatever." Toph replied while the Avatar stayed silent. The blind earthbender returned to her tent, and Sokka went to comfort his little sister.

"Just ignore her. You'll get used to having more than one person around."

Little did Sokka know that Toph was listening to every word he said. _Ignore me if you want, Sugar Queen. _Toph thought, turning over on her side. _Just like everyone else. _

_It was late at night when Toph finally fell asleep. Though the Water Tribe siblings slept next two each other, leaning against Kyana, Toph was left alone. Just like she'd always been. Just like she always would be. _


	4. Chapter 4: Halfway to Recognition

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. They were angry at the other three nations for their pollution of the earth and rejection to their ways. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"My name's Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka. We're from the Southern Water Tribe."_

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"So, you're the Avatar...And your a waterbender. I guess that means you'll be learning earthbending next, huh?"_

_"Kyana!" _

_"What is that thing?"_

_"But the war, it-"_

_"What war?"_

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"You mean, this whole time, Katara and I have been... Lied to?"_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 4: Halfway to Recognition_

_[Toph]_

The next morning, things weren't much different. Toph rose early, prodding the other two awake. Sokka complained about getting up so early. Katara seemed to be in a better mood this morning.

"Good morning, Toph!" She grinned at the earthbender. Toph raised an eyebrow but quietly responded. "Mornin' Katara." The Avatar quickly went about recharging the smoldering ashes of the previous night's fire. Pulling out a pot from her duffle bag (which Sokka and Toph were beginning to nickname the Avatar Warehouse because of how it always had what they needed), Katara bent some water from the morning dew from atop the leaves of plants and into the pot. Eventually, she had enough to keep all the water from boiling away into steam, and started adding rice to the element (the rice, oddly enough, came from the Avatar Warehouse).

Sokka finally crawled out of his sleeping bag at the scent of food. He managed to drag himself over next to Toph, who had sat down by the fire. The cool morning air was heavy, and Toph felt the stickiness of mist clinging to her clothing.

"We should head to the Southern Water Tribe soon." Sokka stated. Toph lay on her back, one leg crossed over the other. She sighed. She was at a loss for what to do. Even though she had finally escaped her parents, the war still held her prisoner and limited her options.

_I wish Katara would listen to me about the war. _Toph thought. _Maybe then she'd try to do something about it. _

Toph inwardly shrugged. Whatever. If Katara was going to fight her like this, that was her problem.

Katara began to dish out bowls (guess where they came from?) of rice and a few pairs of chopsticks (again, from the Avatar Warehouse). "I know a fun place we can stop on the way!"

"Guess that solves our boredom issues." Toph muttered half-heartedly, scooping rice into her mouth with two thin, wooden sticks. She felt Sokka look over at her. He said nothing, and Toph was beginning to feel slightly uncomfortable. The blind earthbender sat up and crossed her legs, continuing to eat her rice. Toph guessed he'd just forgotten she was there.

"Well, show me on a map so I can plot out the time it will take." Sokka urged the Avatar. He was a very picky person, Toph decided, trying to think of a good word for it.

Finishing her rice, Toph disposed of the bowl and stood up. Unable to read the map the two siblings were observing so intently, she went over to stand absent-mindedly by Kyana. The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish made no sound, and Toph kept the silence, however it was slightly awkward. Finally, Katara and Sokka returned with their things packed.

"Okay," Sokka started, about to give the blind girl a recap of their decision. "So this place Katara wants to go to should take us about a full day to travel to. It's a little less than halfway to the Southern Water Tribe. It's called..." Toph heard the rustling of paper and assumed Sokka was referring back to his map. "Kyoshi Island."

"I've heard about that place," Toph stated. "Avatar Kyoshi made it. She was some earthbender!" The blind girl was quiet for a moment, basking in uncharacteristic admiration. Sokka rolled up his map. "We should head out now." He said, stuffing the paper into his backpack. Katara went atop of Kyana's back, followed closely by Sokka. Toph groaned, following the pair up. _Joy, another kitty ride. S_he thought bitterly.

Then, they set off, Katara giving Kyana the signal to get moving.

**[Katara]**

Katara sat on top of Kyana's shoulders, the semi-aquatic animal twitching her white and black pelt in eagerness to leave. Clicking her heals into the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish's sides lightly, Kyana took off.

They traveled swiftly over golden brown hills of wheat, all bordered by tall trees. The pounding of Kyana's paws was muffled and replaced by the crackling of dry wheat beneath them. Looking behind her, she saw Toph (looking a little more comfortable on Kyana's saddle) holding onto the saddle with one hand, her other resting on her stomach as she lay back. Sokka looked just as bored, both arms crossed behind his head. Katara turned back around, sighing. They needed something to do. Their lives were going to waste away if they spent 3/4 of the time on Kyana's back. Katara decided to try and strike up a conversation.

"So where do you guys want to go after the Southern Water Tribe?" She asked. "Ooh!" Sokka exclaimed. "Let's see if we can visit on of the Air Temples!" As he said this, Toph noticeably stiffened. _She's so paranoid, _Katara thought as Sokka continued. "I've always wanted to taste one of their famous fruit pies!"

"All you ever think about is food!" Katara retorted. "And besides, how are we going to get there without a Sky Bison? They're the only way up onto those temples!" There was a pause before Sokka replied. "It was just an idea," he grumbled.

The group traveled on in silence after that, Katara solely focused on the path ahead. After a few hours, Katara slowed Kyana to a halt. "Lunch break," she announced, pulling out leftover rice from the Avatar Warehouse. Sokka, however, was not satisfied with simply grain, claiming he needed something more substantial. He headed into the surrounding woods with his boomerang, looking a little too eager to slaughter some poor creature and cook it slowly over a fire.

Katara shook her head. She did enjoy a little meat sometimes, but it conflicted with her spiritual Avatar everything-is-equal animal-lover vibe, so it could sometimes make her uncomfortable. The Avatar turned to Toph. "So..." She started, trying to think of something to say. "You were pretty quiet thought the entire ride here. Are you feeling okay?"

The blind girl lay back against a boulder. "I'm fine, Katara." She replied indifferently, closing her eyes. Katara was hesitant to continue. She wanted to speak more, but Toph spoke with a tone of finality, basically stating without words that she didn't want to talk anymore.

Katara turned back to her rice. She quietly picked at it for a while before setting it down. "I'm going to go see what's taking Sokka so long. Wait here."

Leaving the uncomfortable silence with The Blind Bandit behind, the Avatar headed in the direction Sokka had left about a half hour ago. It didn't take long to find him. He was already on his way back- without any meat, of course. He had sheathed his boomerang. Katara fell into step beside him. He didn't talk, and that made Katara even more uncomfortable than she'd been with Toph. Finally, she asked Sokka what was wrong.

The warrior looked over at her with a blank expression. He sighed. "I just miss dad. I wonder how he's holding up with Gran-Gran." Katara put a hand on her brother's shoulder. "They'll be fine, Sokka. Probably even better now that they don't have two other mouths to feed."

This seemed to help, but neither spoke after that. They arrived back at camp to find Toph still propped up against her boulder, flicking a piece of wheat between her teeth, and Kyana resting her broad head on her paws. Toph stood up as the siblings returned. "You guys ready to go?"

As a response, Katara grabbed the Avatar Warehouse and Sokka his backpack, and the three hopped on Kyana's back.

They didn't stop again. Katara urged Kyana on, and the animal's endurance was impressive. The ride was quiet with nothing to talk about, and no one seemed to want to speak anyway.

_Later that afternoon..._

Katara pulled Kyana to a halt as they neared the coastline of the Earth Kingdom. Toph jerked forward, not anticipating the sudden stop. "What's going on?!" Katara heard her ask. Sokka turned to her. "Don't worry, we're just stopping 'cause we've reached the beach."

Toph seemed to get paler at the mention of the beach. She moved back to her original sitting position, before she'd been thrown slightly by Kyana's abrupt stop.

"We're not going _into_ the water, are we?" Toph asked in a small voice.

"It's the only way to get to Kyoshi Island, and then the South Pole." Katara stated matter-of-factly. Toph groaned again and gripped the side of the saddle. Katara ignored her and tangled her fingers in Kyana's fur again. Lightly kicking her heels into the animal's sides, Kyana set off at full speed towards the water.

Kyana leaped, forelegs outstretched, into the water, kicking with her webbed hind paws. The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish lashed her tail, speeding them through the water. Katara raised her voice to be heard over the wind and the splashing. "Sokka! Toph! Get ready! We're going to dive!"

"_Die_?!" Sokka exclaimed, mishearing her. "_Dive_, Sokka, _dive_!" Toph shouted, knuckles white as she held her death grip on the saddle. Both drew in a deep breath as Kyana thrust her head beneath the waves.

Katara shouted with glee as they went down, just remembering to take a breath. The gang was engulfed in icy water, soaking them all to the bone.

Kyana was much faster in water than on land. They rocketed through the water, her powerful tail lashing behind them to change direction. For the first 30 seconds, they were underwater. Katara knew they couldn't breath underwater like Kyana, so the Avatar pulled lightly at the cat's fur, directing her upwards. When Kyana shot out of the water, flying high and completely out of the ocean, all three kids on board could agree it was an experience like no other (though some may have been feeling differently about it).

For those split seconds, Katara rose her arms above her head, laughing. She could hear Sokka behind her, laughing as well, and Toph screaming. _Yeah_. Katara decided. _This is definitely the best way of travel._

And then they plunged once again beneath the surface. This sequence went on for about ten minutes before finally, Katara slowed Kyana down and they resurfaced.

All of them gasped for air (with the exception of Kyana who, being semi-aquatic, had adapted to breathing underwater and on land) as they broke through the water's surface. Toph fell over dramatically on her back, one arm on her stomach. "I have been unjustly tortured..." She murmured, trying to catch her breath.

For the hours after that, Kyana swam on the surface in a zig-zag motion, tail flicking back and forth. Katara went about helping to dry off her companions, waterbending the water out of their clothes and then her own.

All around them, the only thing to see was sky and water. Only way to tell them apart was the shade of blue each appeared as. The air was heavy and humid; the few clouds in the sky moved quickly, changing shapes as they rolled across the great blue emptiness. The sun beamed down on the Avatar and her friends, making it feel like they were just spending the day at the beach. Never had Katara felt a day like this- especially out on the water. Back in Ba Sing Se, the climate was always the same. The people were boring and complained about Kyana eating the fish and cabbages. Katara often wondered what it would be like to be in Kyana's position- a giant, Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish eating a Salmon-Tuna or Halibut-Trout. It was technically cannibalism, wasn't it?

Dropping the one person discussion in her mind, Katara lay her back against the edge of the saddle that Sokka and Toph sat on. The Avatar could hear the blind girl snoring and Sokka reading over his maps again. She sighed as the sun began to set and they were still surrounded by water. Kyana looked tired, but they had to keep pressing on. Water had never stopped them before, and it wasn't going to stop them today.

_That's it! _Katara almost face palmed herself, feeling stupid for not realizing this before. _Water, I'm a waterbender, and better yet, the Avatar. I can handle this. _

The girl leaned over near Kyana's head and murmured "I'll take it from here." Then, Katara stood up, feet placed lightly between her best friend's shoulder blades. She rose her hands, fingers limp and aimed down. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sokka look over at her. Toph remained asleep. Well, this would be some wake up call.

The Avatar launched her hands behind her, flicking her wrists more towards her body. The water around Kyana bent to her will and they were soon skimming over the small waves out in the ocean.

Immediately, Toph woke up, sitting up and grabbing the saddle. "What's going on?!" She shouted. Again enlightening her on the current goings-ons, Sokka replied "Katara's just using her bending to speed us up. And..." He pulled out his map. "Judging by my map, we should be there pretty soon."

Sure enough, a small island, just a speck on the horizon, was coming into view. Katara felt a slight disturbance in the water beneath them, probably cause by Kyana helping steer the gang with her tail. They headed to Kyoshi Island.

_One hour later..._

Kyana padded onto the beach shaking out her pelt. All three passengers held on tight until she was done, then hopped off onto the sand. Toph wrinkled her nose. "What are we standing on? Sand?"

Katara nodded and replied "Yeah. It's a beach. Most beaches are bordered with sand."

"Well it's not like I would know!" The blind earthbender countered defensively. Katara backed off, forgetting that Toph hadn't been anywhere but her own home and the Earth Rumble arena. Ever. She sighed. "Let's just set up camp. It's getting pretty dark."

Katara and Sokka rolled out their sleeping bags and Sokka went to get sticks for a fire. Kyana shed her saddle with help from Katara and began to groom her fur. Toph simply kicked around the wet sand, trying to get some form of grip on the ever-shifting earth.

Katara watched as the blind girl tried to bend her usual earth tent, only to have it crumble into a pile of sand. Toph sighed and fell onto the pile.

Sokka came back, setting up the sticks in a stacked order, using spark rocks to light them on fire. Soon, the three friends were sitting around the flame, warming themselves against the cooling night air. Kyana had fallen asleep hours before. Katara couldn't blame her. Swimming made you tired, even if you were born to do it.

Everyone had a slight sunburn. The water had reflected it on their skin, burning it almost everywhere. Nobody seemed to notice, and Katara started to go through her duffle bag, scavenging for food.

They were low on rice, but had a small bag of nuts. After distributing the last of their rice (which hadn't lasted very long), Katara evenly handed out nuts.

The shells were hard, and each person had their own way of cracking them open. Sokka found a rock with a few niches and placed his nut in it. Grabbing another rock, he slammed it down, cracking open the shells. He beamed and popped the nut in his mouth.

Katara bent water from the ocean and repetitively sliced through the stubborn shells. Finally, they were cut in half, and Katara pulled the nuts out of their shells.

Toph cracked the shells in her hands, digging her finger into the nut to pull out the good stuff. After prying off the slightly cracked shells, she casually tossed them into her mouth.

* * *

After their dinner of leftover rice and nuts, the crew headed to sleep. Katara curled up in her sleeping bag next to Kyana and Sokka while Toph built herself a mound of sand to sleep on on the other side of the fire. The embers died out as everyone dozed off, stars poking their ways into the black night sky.

The night was quiet, save for the occasional chirp of a Cricket-Cicada and the crackling of the dying fire. The flames cast a soft glow over the friends, guarding them from the hostilities of darkness. An Elephant-Koi splashed in the distance, and Firefly-Spiders flew around in the dark recesses of the nearby foliage.

Katara closed her eyes, the perfect darkness shielding her from anything that might distract her from sleep. Only too late had she realized she'd turned off her ears, too.

Something landed beside her, and she didn't have time to blink open her eyes before she was blindfolded, her hands tied behind her back and she was hoisted into the air.

"What's the big idea?!" The Avatar heard Toph shout indignantly. "Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down!"

Then Sokka shouted "What's going on? Ah! I'm blind!" He got a sarcastic comment from Toph in reply, which Katara didn't catch. The trio was carried away, Kyana left behind.

_15 minutes later..._

Katara's back was slammed against something stiff- a tree, perhaps. A rope wrapped around her stomach, her arms held tightly behind her. She shook her head, trying in vain to try and shake off the blindfold.

Suddenly, a very threatening voice rang through her ears. "Who are you, and what are you doing on our island?" The voice, clearly feminine, interrogated.

"Show yourselves, cowards!" Sokka replied, ignoring the questions. Katara's blindfold was ripped off, followed by her friends'.

The warriors before them were wearing traditional Earth Kingdom colors, but with darker shades than the Avatar was used to. They had war paint- pale faces with red lining the eyes. Their hair was mostly long, except for the one who seemed to be the leader, who wore here's cropped short. In their hands were fans, golden and open. The most noticeable thing about them, however, was that they were women.

Sokka smirked. "_Girls_?" He laughed. "There's no way a bunch of _girls_ took down _this_ team."

The leader leaned in close to him threateningly. Sokka seemed unfazed. "Got something against _girls_, almighty _warrior_?" She sneered. Sokka was about to retaliate with a stinging retort when Toph intervened. "Uh, hey! Can I put my feet back on the ground, please? What's going on?!"

There was a pause, but instead of appeasing the girl she simply leaned back to her previous defiant position with her arms crossed. "What should we do with them girls? The Unagi has been very hungry lately..."

Katara thought it was time she stepped in. "Please! We didn't mean any harm! We just came by on our way to the South Pole!"

The leader of the warriors turned to each of her warriors with a confused expression as if searching for an explanation from them. "Why would you go to the South Pole?" She asked.

Katara was annoyed with her tone. Her family's home couldn't be _that_ cold and unforgiving. The leader didn't wait for an answer. "How do we know you're not Air Nomad spies? Kyoshi Island has managed to avoid the war for this long! We're not giving in now!"

Katara thought about the familiar name. Ever since she and Sokka had chosen to visit the place, she'd felt as if she knew it somehow. _Wait a minute... Kyoshi? As in..._

"I know Kyoshi." Katara stated flatly. The leader looked surprised, if not irritated. "That's impossible! Avatar Kyoshi died over 300 years ago!"

Katara paused for a moment, wondering if these people were trustworthy enough to tell.

_"I know her" she started. "because I am the Avatar."_


	5. Chapter 5: Kyoshi Island Delay

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"I know a fun place we can stop on the way!"_

_"So this place Katara wants to go to should take us about a full day to travel to. It's a little less than halfway to the Southern Water Tribe. It's called...Kyoshi Island."_

_"What are we standing on? Sand?"_

_"What's the big idea?! Hey! What are you doing?! Put me down!"_

_"There's no way a bunch of _girls_ took down _this_ team."_

_"How do we know you're not Air Nomad spies? Kyoshi Island has managed to avoid the war for this long! We're not giving in now!"_

_"I know Kyoshi."_

_"That's impossible! Avatar Kyoshi died over 300 years ago!"_

_"I know her because I am the Avatar."_

* * *

Book 1: Earth

Chapter 5: Kyoshi Island Delay

[Katara]

The female warriors gaped at her, but then the leader spoke out, regaining composure.

"That's impossible! The last Avatar was a waterbender who disappeared a hundred years ago!"

"Well, technically, I wasn't born until-" Katara was interrupted by the leader. "Silence! Prepare to meet your deaths!" The warriors opened their fans and aimed them threateningly towards the trio.

"Katara, a little waterbending would be nice..." Sokka murmured through the corner of his mouth.

The Avatar pulled against the binds on her hands, managing to loosen them, and pulled the cork on her portable water pouch. Using only her fingers for the movements, she managed to bring the water up high enough to cut the binds tying her and her friends to the wooden post.

The warriors stared in amazement as the ropes fell. Toph, being the shortest of the group, had been held off the ground, and when her feet finally touched the earth, she slid into a fighting stance, suddenly aware of the large amount of adversaries.

"It's true..." The leader mumbled, shocked. "You really _are_ the Avatar." And with that, she bowed, her motion followed by the rest of the women.

"Who are you?" Katara's response sounded clearly through the area. The leader stood up straight again and answered "We are the Kyoshi Warriors." The Kyoshi Warriors greeted the trio warmly. "I am Suki, leader of the Kyoshi Warriors. Come," she continued. "We invite you to stay for the night at our village."

* * *

The village was quiet as the moon rose into the sky. No one wandered the abandoned streets, but murmuring could be heard from dimly lit homes. The moon painted everything in a milky, silver glow as Suki led the trio to a tall building.

"You may all stay here for the night, or as long as you please. We are honored to have the Avatar once again on Kyoshi Island." She spoke her generous words, motioning towards the building with her hand.

Kyana had found them and was trailing behind. The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish simply curled up under the stilted building, tail over her nose. Katara held back a laugh at her friends immediate comfort and followed her brother and Toph into the house.

It had three rooms- two branching off from the main room. Katara decided she and Toph would share a room while Sokka had his own. None of the trio cared much to see what it looked like (one having the inability to do so), and they all departed to their rooms, exhausted.

* * *

Katara sat up on her floor mat, forgetting where she was for a moment. She looked to the other side of the room she was in, discovering Toph sprawled out in a dusty corner in her Blind Bandit uniform (which had become her signature garb), having rolled off of her sleeping mat in the middle of the night.

Katara remembered the events of the previous night and smiled slightly. She left Toph asleep in the corner and went to wake Sokka. She knew if the blind earthbender discovered the warrior was still asleep, she would find the most hilarious way to get him hopping around the building. The Avatar pushed back the curtain that hung in the threshold of his room and stared down at her brother, who lay drooling on his sleeping mat. Katara gently shook him awake, and the siblings stepped out into the main room.

Toph still hadn't woken up, so that was nice. _The quiet!_ Katara thought quickly. _The quiet is nice._

She felt guilty about almost thinking it were nice to not have Toph around. Even though they'd had their disagreements, they were still friends.

Katara stepped outside of the building, greeted by the friendly nudge of Kyana. The Avatar laughed lightly and nudged her friends broad head, who returned the gesture to her hip. Katara stroked Kyana's head for a while before Sokka and Toph emerged from the stilted building together.

"Hey Katara," Sokka called. "We're gonna go check out that beach, wanna come?" Toph didn't look too excited, but Katara got the impression she must have had some interest at the beach if she was going to walk on _sand_ with _Sokka_.

"Sure!" The waterbender replied with a smile. Kyana stood beside her, a deep rumbling echoing from her throat. The trio hopped up on Kyana's back and they traveled out of the village and down the path leading to the deserted beach.

Katara jumped down from Kyana's back with a shout of enthusiasm, stripping into her bindings and diving into the water. It was icy cold, but that didn't bother Katara. She figured it must've been much colder in the South Pole.

Sokka shed his outer clothes and dove into the water. He immediately launched himself high into the air, shouting "COLD!"

Toph was barely able to contain her laughter. She sat on a boulder next to the ocean. The Blind Bandit didn't strip into her bindings, she simply sat there on her boulder, toes dangling aimlessly over the edge.

"Come on in, Toph! The water's _great_!" Called Katara from a little ways out in the water where she'd bent a spire of her element to carry her into the sky.

"No thanks, I think I'll stay on my nice little rock right here." It wasn't an argument- it was a statement. She had made up her mind, and nothing was going to get her into the water.

Kyana refused to wait any longer. The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish levitated in the air for a moment before finally crashing into the waves, which licked at her legs. Water sprayed up at Toph, who sputtered, wiping her face frantically and simultaneously falling backwards off of the boulder.

"Oof!" Came the call from the behind the rock. From there emerged a very irritated looking earthbender, who scrambled up back onto her boulder. Sokka submerged and Katara giggled slightly at Toph's expression.

Turning around, Katara noticed Sokka had resurfaced further into the water. He pointed out the enormous fish gliding through the water. "Katara! Look at the Elephant-Koi!" As if on cue, a magnificent koi launched itself out of the water, falling back into the water with a crash. Katara grinned and propelled herself out into deep water with her waterbending. Sokka struggled to follow her, but eventually gave up and returned to the shallows.

Katara waited in the open water. This would be truly exhilarating. Finally, she felt the water rise beneath her, and her feet connected with a smooth, scaly body. Katara whooped and hollered in joy, latching onto the dorsal fin of the Elephant-Koi. It leaped through the water, toting her along.

Kyana splashed along with Sokka, playfully throwing wet sand and water up at him, the warrior splashing her back. Kyana made a deep sound, sort of like a gurgling and a big cat sound, all surrounded by a whirring. This wasn't too off, since everyone knew that Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish had rows of teeth going deep into their throats, rotating and whirring every time the animal spoke or ate.

Kyana's snow-white fur was not only dappled with the black fur patches, but now dots of wet sand, thrown up by her own hind paws. She playfully nudged Sokka over with her graceful tail.

Toph sat, bored, on her rock, trying in vain to sense what Sokka and Katara were doing. She could hear Kyana's strange animal sounds and Sokka laughing, and distantly the sound of someone, possibly Katara, calling out cheers and howling with excitement.

Katara stared out at her friends. Sokka turned to her, then started waving. Kyana started splashing towards the Avatar and Katara waved back, her other hand on the Elephant-Koi's fin. The waterbender didn't notice the dark shadow following her Elephant-Koi, nor did she notice it pulling other Elephant-Koi back under the water as they tried to leap into the sky.

Suddenly, Katara was thrown into the air as her Elephant-Koi jerked to a halt. "Ahhhhh!" She cried as she flew through the air. Luckily, Kyana caught her mid-air and they landed together underwater. "Thanks girl," Katara sighed with slight relief. Turning around, she saw something rise out of the water- a deep, gray-brown skinned Eel-Serpent with narrowed eyes.

There was a commotion on the beach. Sokka had informed Toph on the current situation out at see, and the girl was now trying to get Katara's attention. Sokka was shouting at his sister as well. Katara didn't have to hear them to know that they were calling her to come back. Kyana dove under the water, speeding through it like a torpedo. The Unagi sped after them, it's thin Eel-like form more suited to swim fast than a Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish with fur and a saddle.

Kyana leaped out of the water, her fins just catching an air current and letting them glide further than any regular fish. They landed back in the water and dove deep, then angled back up.

Just as it seemed the Unagi would snatch them up in it's terrifying maw, Kyana sped straight onto the sand, running straight over Toph, who could not sense them coming. The three of them crashed into a tree.

Katara groaned and rolled off of Kyana's back. The animal guide stood up and shook herself, trying to shake off the ache of the crash. Toph slowly stood up, clutching the tree for support, having taken the full weight of both Katara and Kyana and their momentum.

Sokka ran over. "You guys okay?!" He asked, turning back to look at the ocean.

"I think so..." Came Katara's response as Toph spat sand out of her mouth. Kyana stretched and stepped away from the group, hissing furiously, with the whirring of her teeth adding an eerie effect, at the bay.

Everyone was quiet as they saw the Unagi shift beneath the water, raising a wave. "Well that totally ruined the fun." Katara stated bluntly as the wave passed. Then Sokka gasped.

"What?!" Toph looked around as if she might be able to miraculously spot whatever startled the Water Tribe warrior. "Look!" Was his response. This earned him a good shove from Toph.

"Sorry." Sokka apologized. Then he got back onto the previous topic. "It's an Air Nomad fleet!" He shouted. Immediately, Toph and Katara were in bending stances with Kyana pacing the shoreline.

Sure enough, several Flying Bison were drifting towards the island, a few airbenders on gliders here and there.

"We need to go warn the village!" Sokka shouted. Kyana scooped the group up on her back (with surprisingly little objection by Toph) and headed back to the small village.

* * *

Aang stared out at Kyoshi Island with determination flickering in his eyes. He rode his glider over the ocean, the swift sea breezes easy to manipulate. He breathed deeply. The Avatar was so close, he could practically smell her (I suppose a girl who had been traveling around the world for a couple of weeks wouldn't smell very pleasant).

His few followers trailed behind him. There were very few, for they all believed in his cause, which wasn't a very easy task. Aang thought back to the day he'd run away from the Southern Air Temple.

_Monk Pasang glowered down at Aang. Monk Gyatso stood beside the younger airbender, hand resting supportively on his shoulder. _

_ "I am very disappointed in you, Aang." Pasang started. The airbender shrunk into his tunic as the monk continued. "You know better than to question the Council." He scolded. _

_ Aang didn't meet his eyes. He became very interested in his feet and Pasang sighed. He shook his head. _

_ A very impatient monk and not one typically sympathetic towards others, he turned his head away. "You will never be a true Air Nomad."_

_ A look of shock crawled across both Aang and Monk Gyatso's faces. Taken aback by the monk's cruel words, Gyatso stepped in. "Aang was only voicing his opinion. For that, he should not be punished!"_

_ Pasang stared down at his fellow councilman with disgust. "A true nomad would not hold opinions against such subjects!"_

_ Aang's head was lowered with shame. He knew what he'd said was opposite to the common voice, but he felt it was unfair. Gyatso removed his hand to continue to persuade Pasang, but Aang wasn't listening. _

Tonight you leave_. He thought. _Today is the last day they think of you less than a true nomad._ His mind was made. He only hoped Gyatso would go with him. _

Aang had been wrong. It was not the last day his honor and loyalty would be questioned. He still had to capture the Avatar for that day to pass. There was no way the Avatar could stop the Air Nomads- they were simply smarter with more imagination and room for ideas than any other nation. Put simply, there was no way to beat a nomad.

Aang looked to his left as a good friend of his flew up next to him on his own glider. Gyatso smiled at Aang, and the young airbender was truly glad that his older monk friend had come with him.

_At least I have one loyal friend. _Thought Aang as they neared Kyoshi Island.

* * *

Team Avatar arrived at the village and the villagers surrounded them quickly. Katara explained the entire situation to the village, but they seemed more interested in the fact that the new Avatar had returned. Finally, Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors pushed their ways through the crowd, intent on helping the trio protect the village.

"We need to get everyone inside their homes, and be careful. The Air Nomads are manipulative and crafty, and only commit to violence as a last resort."

Katara felt a deep pit in her stomach. So the Air Nomads really had started a war. _That doesn't mean everything Toph said is true._ Katara assured herself. _What does she know? She's never even been away from home. _

Suki continued. "The Kyoshi Warriors and I will set up an ambush. You three need to help lure them into the village-not too far in or they may destroy it." She turned to leave, but Sokka spoke up.

"Wait."

Everyone turned to him. Suki glared at him. "What do you want?" She spat. Sokka looked away. "Look. I'm sorry about the things I said yesterday about you guys being girls. I was wrong. And... I'm sorry if I insulted you."

Suki didn't hesitate with her response, almost as if she knew this was coming. "That's great and all, but let's get back to the task at hand." She turned away again only for Sokka to continue.

"I'm coming with you."

Suki didn't turn, only raised an eyebrow in surprise, a smirk playing of her lips. "Well then, almighty warrior, let's go!"

And the warriors walked away, a surprised Sokka trailing behind.

Toph and Katara and Kyana all turned back to the entrance to the village where a statue of Kyoshi stood proudly. "Guess we just wait here." Toph announced awkwardly and Katara nodded. Kyana sat beside them with a grunt as they all stared out at the approaching nomads.

_"Let's kick some airbender butt." Was the last thing a certain blind earthbender said before the inevitable battle._


	6. Chapter 6: Escaping Avatar Style

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"How do we know you're not Air Nomad spies? Kyoshi Island has managed to avoid the war for this long! We're not giving in now!"_

_"My name is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am the Avatar."_

_"It's an Air Nomad fleet! We need to go warn the village!"_

_"Let's kick some airbender butt." _

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 6: Escaping Avatar Style_

**[Katara]**

The Avatar stared out towards the shore where airbenders were starting to land. Toph stood beside her, already forming a stance. Kyana sat on her other side, back straight and tail curled over her webbed paws, looking undeniably regal.

Katara sighed as the Air Nomads grew nearer. The ones on Sky Bison continued to fly towards the town, but the ones on gliders landed and ran faster than any other person could without airbending towards the small village.

Katara heard the groan of a distant Sky Bison and readied her water pouch. _Any moment,_ she thought. _They'll be here any moment. _

**[Toph]**

The blind earthbender began to feel uneasy as she heard the Sky Bison overhead. If they were in the air, Toph wouldn't be able to sense them, making it incredibly easy for them to attack her. No matter- If those Flying Bison kept up their groaning, they'd be easy to find.

Besides, all she had to do was lead them to the ambush.

The airbenders were approaching quickly. They had unbelievably light footsteps, but footsteps nonetheless.

Kyana stood up and Katara and Toph began to back towards the village. The airbenders could see them now, and they were growing closer by the second. Soon they slowed to a casual walk, following the Avatar, the blind earthbender, and the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish deeper into the village.

Toph could feel an airbender land just a few feet in front of her and Katara. The earthbender slid into a fighting stance and Kyana growled/whirred her teeth, but Katara remained still, though she tensed. A young voice, hardly intimidating, sounded before the three.

"Hello, _Avatar._ I see you've stuck with your earthbender friend." Aang referred to Toph. "What a strange little trio. Where's the little Water Tribe warrior?"

Toph smirked. No sooner had he said it than a boomerang flew out from behind a building, knocking out one of the airbenders behind Aang. The boy whipped around just in time to deflect a closed fan flying towards him. The airbenders were in their stances in a heartbeat. The Kyoshi Warriors stood on the thatch rooftops of buildings, staring down at the Air Nomads with anger in their eyes.

"Careful," Aang told his nomads. "We just need to talk them into it." He turned to Team Avatar, noticing Sokka had joined them. He stepped towards Katara, and Toph angled her feet towards him. She heard him speak as he slowly got closer, and Katara uncorked her water pouch.

"You know, fighting this war is hopeless for you, Avatar. You're a single person fighting a whole nation. Why even try," Aang continued as he stopped just in front of her face. "when it's futile?"

Katara lashed water across his face and the airbender was thrown back. The Kyoshi Warriors launched into battle, fans waving off blasts of air. Toph hurled a rock pillar at the nearest airbender, who leaped out of the way, flying into the air.

The Air Nomads fought only in self-defense, dodging and evading hits from the gang and their new female allies. Toph shot boulders at Aang who simply leaped out of the way. Something Toph found strange about the Air Nomad was his childish composure. He didn't try to remain cool with everything. If he came to a close call with a boulder or whip of water, he'd freak out and run out of the way. He didn't have the attitude of someone who'd suffered their entire life. He wasn't like anything Toph would expect from a bad guy like him.

_Our main antagonist is a twelve year old kid with no composure and a high pitched voice. _Toph smirked inwardly and sent another rock his way. She knew better than to underestimate someone for their age and appearance, but no earthbender could compete with Toph's skills. _Or airbender, for that matter._ She thought. With that, she slid her forward left foot behind her, shifting her stance entirely. Toph thrust her fists down, then raised her hands above her head, opening them until her palms faced the ground. In response, the earth rumbled and shook, rippling and unbalancing the nimble nomads.

_This_, Toph assumed. _Will be easy. _

**[Katara]**

If she hadn't had Kyana next to her, Katara would've fallen flat on her face. There was something about have four feet that have you more stability- probably the fact that it effected your center of balance.

The Avatar whipped water at a group of nomads, but most of them dodged. The two that had been hit were thrown into an old, wooden house with a sagging thatch roof. The sound of splintering wood was interrupted as a blast of air shot out at Katara.

Up until now, the Air Nomads had been peaceful and simply tried to dodge and evade. But if they wanted to win this fight, then force must succeed where words failed. Aang had whipped his glider (currently in staff form) in a horizontal arc, creating an air current that blasted the Avatar's side. Katara flew back, falling to the ground.

Toph stepped into the waterbender's place, holding a simple mantis stance. She revolved her arms in a circle before her, angling her feet forward and moving her left foot (currently behind her) to be parallel to her right, now putting her in a horse stance. The result of this movement was a spire of earth erupting from the ground and following adversaries around until it was hit. Katara thought that was a cool move and wondered if a similar thing could be done with her native element. Even though she was a waterbending master, new things could still be learned.

Katara stood up and lashed out with a water whip, one of the first moves she'd learned when she had begun her waterbending. It was an easy move now, the familiar movement fluent and simple. An airbender was thrown back by the sheer force of the blow. Easy moves became powerful ones when done by a master.

Katara stepped up next to Toph as Kyana tackled another nomad to the ground. Her hidden teeth whirred and her unmoving canines snapped at his throat. The monk airbent her off and stood with his staff pointed towards the beast. Kyana's long, white and black tail waved back and forth, the fins near the end extended in a wide, threatening manner. The cat's eyes were narrowed into black slits against a stunning yellow. Katara had no more time to watch, however, when a blast of air coming straight at her was narrowly blocked by a slab of earth.

"Keep your head in the game, Sweetness!" Toph yelled, irritated, as she threw the slab at the airbender who'd sent the gust of wind. He was pinned down as Katara turned back to the fight. Toph was holding off a few airbenders, including their old pal Mr. Grumpy Monk. Sokka stood next to Suki, helping her and her warriors fight off as many nomads as possible.

No sooner had they gained the upper hand had the nomads struck down on them full force. The thing that made them so deadly was their evasiveness, added to the fact that they could push you around with the flick of a wrist. They were as swift physically as they were mentally. Outsmarting an Air Nomad was no easy task.

They soon figured out the gang's weaknesses; Sokka's inability to bend, Toph's inability to see things not touching the earth, Kyana's obvious dominance on land and water than air, and Katara's mastery of only _one_ element. The nomads came in close, disarming Sokka, attacking Toph and Kyana from the air, and making sure they paid attention to the sources of water around them. The Kyoshi Warriors fought valiantly, but in the end the number of nomads was too much, and they were defeated.

Kyana went first, thrown off balance as she swatted the air, aiming for nomads with her forepaws. Sokka and Toph were taken down almost simultaneously, Sokka's own boomerang to his throat, Toph hoisted into the air by a net. Katara was taken down in a different manner.

The staff was to Sokka's throat. Within moments, his windpipe could've been crushed. The fighting had ceased. Katara stood in her bending stance, glaring, eyes sharp with hatred, at the Air Nomads around her. Sokka stared up at his younger sister, a nervous expression observing a desperate one.

"We'll let him live," started the young airbender. "If you come with us."

The Avatar stared him down, eyes narrowed, then sighed. She dropped her bending stance and said "Fine. Just leave them alone."

Aang smiled. And old nomad came up beside him. "Aang, should we take them all captive?"

Aang glanced at him, then shook his head. "No, Gyatso. We shouldn't take anyone prisoner if we don't need them. Leave them. Let's leave." Katara closed her eyes as the older monk, Gyatso, nodded, and told the nomads to drop Toph, still wrapped tightly in the weighted net, and they left Kyana, who was still pinned to the ground, on her back. She growled and her teeth whirred as she snapped defiantly at the nomads around her, not daring to go as far as to get up and attack from fear for Katara. The Air Nomads left the village, the ground littered with their enemies.

**[Toph]**

Kyoshi Warriors began to stand, and Suki came up to Sokka and Toph, a sorry and ashamed look on her face. "I'm sorry we weren't able to stop them from taking your sister," she said, her voice low and quiet. Sokka rest a hand on her shoulder. "It's not your fault, Suki." He replied just as quietly. Toph twitched an eyebrow inwardly, though as to why, she did not know. She didn't like the closeness between the two.

_ It's not like it's any of my business. _Toph scolded herself. _Prioritize, Toph. Katara's been captured by a gang of bald little airbenders on flying animals. This is worse. _

She blinked as she was brought back to the real world when Sokka turned to her. "We need to get her back," he said. Toph looked at where she estimated his face to be. "But how are we going to do that? They're a gang of nomadic monks with awesome staff things that let them fly- first of all, we can't fly. And even if we could, I can't see up there- we'd be flying blind!"

Sokka sighed. Toph sensed him looking back and forth between her and Suki. Then he stopped and spoke decisively. "Well, we have to do _something_. We can't leave Katara with those evil noobs!"

"Really?" Toph almost face palmed. "_Noobs_?"

"What, it's true!" Was Sokka's defensive reply. Toph shook her head, and then Suki spoke up. "Either way, I'll have to stay here and look after the village. The Kyoshi Warriors and I need to help make repairs."

Sokka shifted to look over at her, pleading in his voice when he asked "Are you sure you can't come with us?" Toph snorted silently just before Suki assured him she was. Kyana strode over to them, her head hung low in shame. Sokka pet her thick neck as a low rumbling sound emanated from Kyana's throat, mixed in with the sharp sound of her spinning rows of teeth. The sound was sad, and it made Toph want to pet her as well; she shook off the thought and turned back to Sokka and Suki.

"We'll see you around, Suki..." Sokka said quietly. Suki replied just as solemnly. "Goodbye, Sokka, Toph," and with a small glance "Kyana. I hope we can see each other again soon." And the warrior turned away, leading the other Kyoshi Warriors to follow suit. Sokka turned to the blind earthbender.

"Let's take Kyana down into the ocean and follow them. If we can come up under them, we can figure out a way to shoot them down." The Water Tribe boy explained the vague plan. They hopped onto Kyana's back, Sokka on her shoulders, gripping her thick pelt.

"Let's go get Katara, Kyana!" Sokka announced anticlimactically, Kyana answering with a twitch of an ear. Sokka sighed. "Look, I know you usually just listen to Katara, but this time she's not here, and we have to save her. So... Yeah onward!"

With an annoyed grunt, Kyana dashed off towards the bay, tail waving behind her.

**[Katara]**

The Air Nomads tied Katara up, throwing her onto the back of a Sky Bison. A "yip yip!" could be heard from somewhere behind her, followed by a low groan and the lurching motion of flying upwards. Katara looked around, mesmerized by her surroundings.

Never before had Katara seen something quite like it. It was as if the crystal oceans she'd heard of in stories about the Southern Water Tribe from her father had been reflected by a great mirror. There were clouds strewn across the sky, some smooth and feathery and long, others plump and fluffy and tall. It looked like you could snatch a chunk from the tips of an edge and hold it delicately in your palm. The sun was a golden orb drifting across the sky, glowing warmly down on the Avatar and her captors with a kind light. The view was serene- you wouldn't think the sky could hold such dangers, such evils.

Katara started to strain her fingers, running one over the ropes binding her wrists lightly. It might be easy to untie the knots, but escaping a whole team of well trained airbenders took luck, precision, and stealth. These were hard skills to use when you were hundreds of feet in the air and surrounded by the enemy.

The Avatar watched Aang. He seemed to be the leader of this crew. He sat on the Flying Bison's head, steering the reigns attached to it's long horns. He kept stealing glances at her, as if to make sure she was still there. He was smiling. Not in the maniacal way you would expect from a villain, but in a happy, light way you normally expect from a kid his age.

Katara turned her gaze back to the sky, then to the ocean below her. If she could just loosen the bonds, maybe...

She pulled at the rope with her index finger. It was bound tight, and now rubbing agains her wrists uncomfortably, making them itchy. Her ankles were no better. She pulled on them silently, trying to undo them. Aang was oblivious, staring happily out at the horizon. He was saying something Katara could just make out.

"We're almost home, buddy! And then they'll finally understand where my loyalty lies!" The reply he got was a loud groan from the Sky Bison.

Katara didn't know what this meant, but she didn't really care. The binds were loosening against her constant pulling, and she was almost ready to execute her plan...

"What's that?!" Aang shouted, pointing down towards the ocean. The bison groaned, heading downward slightly. Katara leaned over the edge of the saddle, which looked remarkably like Kyana's, and saw what was below them.

There was a pale figure glinting off the waves, swerving back and forth through the water beneath them. There were two figures on its saddle, one standing defiantly, the other holding on to the edge. You couldn't make out their facial expressions from the distance they flew at, but that didn't change what they were there for.

Katara stared down at Sokka, Toph, and Kyana, a new fire lit in her eyes. She immediately stood and fell backwards, off of the Flying Bison. She heard shouts of protest at this from the nomads, but it wasn't like she was going to go back and apologize. They dove down at her as she snapped her rope binds. Thrusting her hands out in front of her, then pulling them to the side and backward in a fluent motion, Katara was caught by a geyser of salt water. She sped through the water, bringing herself above the surface to be carried by another geyser. She stared down at the nomads, who were, evidently, attacking her friends. The Avatar moved the geyser forward, coming at the airbenders.

Before she could reach them, Aang sped just passed her face on his glider. Katara launched a jet of water after him, telling it to follow him wherever he flew. Her eyes followed him as he raced around, attracting her attention. Her geyser began to weaken as she focused solely on hitting this airbender out of the sky.

**[Sokka]**

Sokka launched his trusty boomerang after an Air Nomad, unbalancing it and causing it to fall into the ocean. He gave a shout of triumph as he continued this technique.

Toph didn't seem to be having as great a time. She held on tightly to the side of the saddle, only moving if she knew she could catch an airbender in the gut with her fists.

Kyana drove them through the now choppy waves, stirred up by constant air current shifts. She glided up over the peaks of white foamed waves, gliding through the air as she extended her fins. She caught nomads off guard, shoving them down under the water.

All seemed to be going in the team's favor. Even though they were outnumbered, the nomads were no match for Sokka's boomerang. He felt proud as he watched Katara coming towards them on her magic geyser, a determined look on her face. When Aang swooped in front of her, however, things started to worsen.

As Katara became distracted, the airbenders seemed to kick it up a notch. Winds ripped at Sokka's hair, tearing at his flapping clothes. It picked up sea spray, thoroughly washing the three. The monks became braver, taking longer dives at the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish and her riders. Kyana roared at flying nomads, swerving to avoid being hit.

Toph seemed to be having a particularly difficult time avoiding damage. There was no earth around her, and all the nomads were attacking from the air. All she could do was duck and punch, hoping her fists collided with the right person.

Sokka was swept off of Kyana's back and into the churning ocean by a swift gust of wind. He struggled to keep his head above the waves as he watched Katara swatting at Aang and Kyana and Toph fending off airbenders. A wave crashed over his head and Sokka went under. Breaking the surface once more, he saw Katara staring Aang down. Turning his head, he spotted Toph swinging wildly out at a few Air Nomads before she and Kyana were hoisted into the air in two nets, Toph shouting angrily and indignantly. Kyana's paws tangled at the bottom of her net.

Suddenly, Sokka himself was plucked out of the water and into a net. "Katara!" He shouted. But she wasn't listening. She was staring down at Aang, the geyser strengthening beneath her.

**[Katara]**

Katara couldn't believe it. This silly twelve year old monk and his crew were taking her friends down one by one. Her face hardened with rage. Sokka's cry was distant. She forgot her surroundings, focusing only on her enemy. She felt herself raise higher into the air. She drew her arms out beside her, and something incredible happened; Katara felt as though she was weightless. Her eyes glowed brightly and her face furrowed in anger. She threw herself at Aang, crashing a wave over him. Drawing her arms fluently over her head, she whipped the monk in the side with a water whip. He disappeared under the waves.

Katara turned to the rest of the Air Nomads, who all fled immediately, knowing their attempts to defeat her would be futile. They dropped Kyana back into the water, Toph on top of her, and Sokka a few meters from the creature's head.

Slowly, Katara lowered herself down to Kyana and the others. Only after she had hopped onto the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish's back did her eyes stop glowing and she felt the full force of what she'd just done.

Exhaustion hit the Avatar like an ocean wave. She fell to her knees in the saddle, eyes half closed. Sokka climbed onto Kyana's back and rushed over to her.

"Katara!" He cried. The waterbender scarcely noticed him. They all drifted there in the calm water, Kyoshi Island a distant speck on the horizon. Katara lay her back onto the raised edge of Kyana's saddle while Toph felt her way over.

Kyana swam slowly back to the little island as Sokka got Katara to speak.

"I was just, so angry..." She replied when Sokka asked what had happened. "I couldn't control myself any more..."

Sokka thought for a moment before exclaiming "The Avatar State! That must be what happened! You got so angry that you must've triggered it!"

Katara agreed, but didn't look as certain. When they finally got back to Kyoshi Island, they were greeted by Suki and the Kyoshi Warriors.

"Katara! You're back!" The warrior exclaimed as she ran up to the trio. Katara didn't say anything, but the awkward moment was saved by Sokka proudly stating how Katara had saved them. Suki smiled.

Kyana prodded a paw at the earth impatiently, making an annoyed whirring sound with her throat. Katara patted her muzzle. "We should probably get going; Kyana's getting restless." She said. The Kyoshi Warriors all nodded and waved.

Before Sokka hopped on Kyana's back with Katara and Toph, however, he ran back and hugged Suki. Katara raised an eyebrow as they said their goodbyes, Suki waving as he walked away slowly.

When Sokka hopped on, Katara asked "What was that all about?"

Both ignoring Toph's response of "What? What was what all about?", Sokka simply replied "Nothing."

_ The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish slid into the ocean, her three companions on her back. They four of them traveled across the ocean towards the horizon. Towards the South Pole and the legendary Southern Water Tribe._


	7. Chapter 7: The Southern Water Tribe

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"My name's Katara, and this is my older brother, Sokka. We're from the Southern Water Tribe."_

_"But the war, it-"_

_"What war?"_

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"The Avatar State! That must be what happened! You got so angry that you must've triggered it!"_

_"You mean, this whole time, Katara and I have been... Lied to?"_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 7: The Southern Water Tribe_

**[Katara]**

"You know, I'm starting to think we're going the wrong way." Toph said as she lay on Kyana's saddle casually, right leg crossed over her left knee.

Katara looked up from where she sat on Kyana's shoulders, a worried look on her face. "What makes you say that?"

Toph closed her eyes and shrugged. "Sokka's the one reading the map." At this, Sokka looked up from his map, an irritated look plastered on his face. He pointed accusingly at the earthbender, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Why don't you try then? A map's harder to read when the only reference you've got is _the sun_."

"Sure, hand it over here!" Toph exclaimed with an almost nonexistent hint of sarcasm. To Katara's surprise, Sokka actually did hand her the map. Toph held the parchment before her, pretending to study it.

"You were holding it _upside down_." She concluded, handing him the map back. Sokka began to panic. "_What_?! How could this happen! Katara we need-" Only then did he discover the amused looks on their faces. He sent Toph a death glare. "Why do you feel the need to do that?"

The girl smirked. "The same reason you're as ignorant as a Badger-Frog." Katara laughed a little at this, turning back to the endless ocean in front of her.

The air had chilled suddenly, as though they had crossed an invisible border between summer and winter. Soon, glaciers dotted the calm waters, looming over the group and casting long shadows in the orange sunlight. The sun had begun to set, cooling the world even more.

Katara looked back and Sokka and Toph. Sokka lay casually back against the side of the saddle as Toph had hours before. The blind girl now hugged her knees, her ebony bangs shielding her eyes. Sokka didn't seem to notice her obvious discomfort, so Katara decided to be the one to ask her if she was alright.

"Are you kidding?!" Toph exclaimed, looking in the direction of her voice for emphases. "It's freezing out here! Has the sun gone down already?" She added, staring up at the sky as though she could see it.

"Actually, no. It's still there, but is a little lower in the sky. Are you sure you're alright, Toph?" The earthbender looked back down a little and murmured. "You must be immune to cold or something," then, shouting towards the sky, she added "It's _freezing_ out here!"

Katara sighed and faced ahead again. She blinked and squinted, staring out at the scene before her.

Far in the distance, just peeking over the horizon, was what appeared to be an enormous glacier. It glowed in the evening sunlight, reflected against crystal blue water. Katara tightened her grip on Kyana's scruff, eyes wide with excitement. She quickly turned back to Sokka and Toph, smiling broadly.

"I think that's it! Just on the horizon! The Southern Water Tribe!"

Sokka leaped to his feet, and Toph just puffed her bangs away for a moment. "No wonder it's so cold. I can't _wait_ to get on solid ground!" She muttered to herself.

But neither of the siblings were listening. They were staring at the remote beauty of the South Pole.

"This is _amazing_!" Katara exclaimed, taking in the scene before her. Kyana whirred in agreement. Toph just sighed as Sokka added "Toph, you _really_ need to see... This." He faltered, glancing sympathetically at the twelve year old girl.

"Whatever." She replied, hugging herself tighter. "I'll be able to 'see' it once we're there."

Sokka shrugged and returned to his bewildered stare. Katara steered Kyana up to the edge of the glacier, and the reenergized cat stepped onto the ice with enthusiasm.

Katara slid off of Kyana's shoulders, followed by Sokka who threw the fresh snow up around him. Finally, Toph hopped off of the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish's back. She immediately jumped with surprise and fell forward.

"What the heck is this!" She shouted angrily, finding her footing carefully. Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance, then Sokka walked over to help her reluctantly. He awkwardly approached her, and when he spoke, she whipped around to face him, almost losing her footing again.

"It's ice, Toph. Don't you get snow in Goaling? Even occasionally?" He inquired. The blind earthbender slowly shook her head. Then, she stomped her foot with frustration and shouted "I can't see on this stuff! How am I supposed to-" Sokka put a hand on your shoulder. "Here-" he offered her his arm, just before realizing she couldn't see it. "Hold on, just grab my arm."

No sooner had he said it had Toph latched onto his arm in a death grip. Sokka blushed slightly and led her over to Katara and Kyana. The four of them set off across the frozen terrain, Katara taking the lead, Sokka dragging Toph along, and Kyana bringing up the rear.

"This place is beautiful!" Katara explained. Toph mumbled something inaudible, probably about how she couldn't see on ice.

Suddenly, Sokka gasped melodramatically, his jaw dropping extremely far. Katara stared too, for what stood before them was unbelievable.

Hundreds of small ice huts dotted the valley below, animal pelts dotting the ground around them. Some hung from the thresholds of the igloos, a mixture of brown, black, white, red, and striped. There was one great building, glowing in the setting sun's light, it's smooth walls glistening and reflecting the light onto the snow crystals powdering the ground.

The sky darkened as clouds set in and the sun tipped the horizon. A cold wind whipped up and blew up snowflakes against their skin. Toph shivered next to Sokka, but Katara was making her way down the hill. Her face was light with joy. She couldn't wait to meet her people. She couldn't wait to finally meet people with her culture, with her style. With her tastes.

Sokka, Toph, and Kyana made their ways down more slowly. Katara waited for them at the bottom, fidgety with excitement. Sokka looked almost as happy, but was too busy staring in awe at the little ice buildings.

"Let's go inside one!" He suggested once they'd caught up with the Avatar. Katara turned on him. "We can't just waltz into someone else's home! Let's meet some people first." So they spent the first half hour of darkness searching for any sign of life. Eventually, even Sokka and Katara were feeling the cold, Toph shivering along beside them.

"Do you think they have a curfew?" Toph asked doubtfully. Katara knew she still thought the were all dead, but how could this vast village still exist without their care? She answered more surely "Who knows? Maybe something terrible happens here at night, so they've become to terrified to come out?"

"If that's the case," Sokka started nervously, grabbing Toph's grip with his other hand. "is it really wise to be outside right now?"

After that dark thought, they all became a little more on-edge. It seemed like all of their senses were enhanced (except sight, for some of them in particular), and they made out each drip of water against a soft, bed of snow, each echo the wind made as it howled through the ice formations. They jumped at the crunch of snow under their own feet.

The sky was a stormy gray now, a black haze of clouds hanging heavily over the four. Snow began to fall lightly, tickling Katara's dark skin and melting in her hair.

"We need to find some place to stay," Katara said finally, getting her an exasperated sigh from Sokka. "We won't be able to hold out through the night if there's a snow storm."

They all agreed to find some place that would accept them. They trudged through the thickening snow, staying close and keeping an eye out for each other. They greeted igloo entrances and were met with no reply. "They must be asleep." Katara would conclude when this happened.

Eventually, they found an inn. No one was inside, and there didn't seem to be anyone official around. "Must not get many visitors. Probably slow business."

They found their ways to the back of the inn where an archway opened up to a hallway. There were a few animal skins blocking the entrances to different rooms. The trio picked one and set down their belongings. Katara stood up after laying out a sleeping mat. "I'm going to go find a place for Kyana to sleep." She explained as she headed for the doorway. "I'll be back soon." And she stepped pass the striped pelt and out into the hallway.

**[Sokka]**

Sokka lay out his mat as Katara left, muttering his acknowledgement to her decision. Toph sat down at the edge of the room, feeling around for any sign of earth.

Flattening out his sleeping bag, Sokka looked over to his pack, where he knew his dad had packed him a parka.

"You'll need it for when you travel to colder places." He had explained, handing him the jacket. Sokka and Katara both had one, blue and lines with white fur.

Sokka stepped carefully over to his bag, pulling out the warm coat, and slipped it over his head, immediately admiring how well it fit. That's when he finally took in his surroundings.

The room was round, and entirely made of ice. The floor was covered in old, torn animal pelts, like the ones he'd seen hanging from the entryways of the igloos.

The room was pretty warm, but Sokka still liked to have his parka on against the evident chill. Thunder rolled outside, but Sokka didn't hear any rain.

_Must be snowing,_ he decided. Sokka had always enjoyed the snow. It didn't snow much in Ba Sing Se, only on the coldest of mornings when there was a rare drizzle. He liked to paint faces in the frost on the broad leaves of the plants that grew there. The frost would disappear beneath his touch, and it made him feel like maybe he could've been a waterbender. An extremely underdeveloped waterbender.

But he wasn't, and was brought back to the present when Toph sneezed. Sokka looked up to find her on her back in the far side of the room, staring towards the ceiling and her hands resting on her stomach.

Her skin was pale- well, paler than usual, and she seemed determined to keep her limbs close to her, as if to save warmth.

Sokka stood by awkwardly, staring at her for a moment, before she blinked.

"Sokka, why are you staring at me?" Toph asked uncomfortably, shifting into a sitting position and facing him.

"I wasn't staring!" He replied all too quickly. He turned away, an awkward silence forming between the two. Sokka continued to sort through his things, helping out Katara by setting up her sleeping bag on top of her mat. Just as he finished, the Avatar walked back in.

She pushed back the hood of her parka, having already changed into it before she left.

"I haven't seen anyone." Katara stated with disbelief. "I thought for sure there might be _someone_ wandering around after-hours."

Toph shifted behind Sokka, and he knew she was still thinking about the whole genocide idea. Even Sokka was beginning to wonder...

"We should get to sleep," Katara continued, sitting down on her sleeping bag. "We have a lot to do tomorrow morning." She slipped into the folds of her navy sleeping bag, pulling the edge tight around her neck. Sokka followed her lead, and Toph settled down by curling up on the far side of the room, head resting on her hand.

The storm raged outside, the silent, frozen rain falling to the earth through the thunder and howling wind.

* * *

Everyone was awake at dawn- everyone besides Sokka, that is. He lay tucked in his sleeping bag, snoring quite loudly, one arm sticking out of the bundle at a rather strange angle.

Katara was the first person to actually stand up, her eyes bright with excitement and curiosity.

"I can't _wait_ to meet the people of this tribe!" She exclaimed as Toph sat up, her skin freckled with goosebumps. The blind girl had dark circles under her eyes, and she sniffled a few times before standing, her hand on the wall to guide her.

Katara walked over to Sokka and shook him awake. He wiggled around in his sleeping bag for a moment before finally stepping out of it, shedding his warm cocoon. He yawned loudly, stretching his arms above his head, staring out past the animal pelt to the small hallway. It was quite- silent, even. Nothing like Ba Sing Se at this time of day.

But then again, he supposed, this was the Water Tribe, not the Earth Kingdom. Sometimes he missed the place where he'd grown up. It had only been a couple of weeks, but it seemed like ages since he'd last seen Gran-Gran and his dad.

Sokka was abruptly pulled out of his thoughts when Katara nearly yanked his arm out of it's socket. He barely had time to tighten his fingers around Toph's wrist before he was dragged out of the room, out of the hallway, and finally the building.

The smile on Katara's face faded as she was met with an empty square. It was almost like a ghost town. The snow was at least piled up a foot high, leaning heavily on the igloos.

This was something else he found strange. Something that had evaded him the night before. All his life, his father had told him and Katara stories about the Southern Water Tribe. About how they hunted, their cultures, and how they lived. How they lived in animal-skin tents, easy to pack up and move if they needed to. The homes here were solid ice, unmovable and thick, scattered throughout the area, old fire pits now buried in snow.

Sokka shook his head to clear it and turned back to Katara, who'd started to meander about the area. The silence was broken by a strange sound in the distance- like the barking of an animal. Sokka stared off in it's direction, but his companions seemed unfazed by the foreign sound.

He and Toph caught up with Katara behind one igloo to find her nudging Kyana awake. The animal guide had slept under an overhanging ice shelf, almost fully protected from the blizzard of the previous night. She purred and nudged the Avatar back playfully, standing and stretching in a long, luxurious bow.

The group walked among the old igloos, watching the colorful pelts flap angrily in the wind. Sokka was on the verge of a realization. One he wouldn't let himself believe. One that danced in and out of his consciousness, so he'd recognize it one moment, forget it the next.

It was something maybe he'd known all this time, just never let himself accept. All Sokka knew was it was confirmed as they turned right at the nearest towering glacier, which stood out of the ground like a mountain.

Now it all made sense. The solid ice buildings, the scattered animal pelts– the pieces fit into place, for before him was a scene so horrible, so terrifyingly real, all he could do was stare.

Chunks of ice were scattered about, coated in a new layer of snow. They were permanently stained, deep within as they had frozen over the color, a dark crimson. Bodies were strewn across the entirety of the battlefield, frozen and purple and stiff with only slightly decayed body parts.

The bodies were distorted. They all either had twisted spines or crushed limbs, cuts and old traces of bruising. And though there were few, some were even beheaded.

Sokka stood rooted to the spot with horror while Katara sank to her knees. Toph, oblivious to the entire scene that lay before her, continued to ask each sibling what was the matter. Eventually, even her voice faltered as she sensed the shocked and disbelieving vibes echoing off of them. Kyana sat down next to Katara, whimpering and pressing her face to the Avatar's side comfortingly. When she didn't react, Kyana pulled her muzzle away and sat in the same stunned silence, all before the wind started picking up. The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish stood abruptly, taking a step back from her friend, who's eyes had begun to glow a familiar white. Snow picked up off the ground now flurried in Katara's personal tornado, surrounding her and dancing in the wind.

"What's going on?!" Toph shouted as the breeze became a harsh wind, gripping Sokka's arm with the ferocity of a Platypus-Bear. Sokka stepped back, pushing Toph a little ways behind him.

"Katara's gone into the Avatar State again! I know you can't see it, but there's a whole lot of dead people around us!"

As if proving his point, a crumbling bone was crushed beneath his feet, and he jumped, startled. Katara started to rise into the air, the wind currents around her swirling up and down, left and right.

Kyana came back swiftly to Sokka, nudging Toph along to take shelter behind an ice boulder. Sokka stayed behind, watching as his furious sister rose into the air, eyes glowing white, face twisted with rage.

He pushed his way towards her, trying to ignore the biting wind and the stinging snowflakes hurled against the bare skin on his face.

"Katara!" Sokka shouted, reaching out to grab her wrist. She seemed to ignore him, her whole body tensed. He tugged a little. "Come on, Katara! I know it's hard to accept, but it's the fact! You never knew these people anyway!"

This didn't seem to help. It made it worse, if anything. Sokka sighed with dramatic exasperation. "Okay, I know this is going to sound really cheesy, but you need to let them go, Katara!" He stared at her intensely, willing her to come down. "It's too late to help them, but the rest of the world still had a chance! Katara!"

She slowly started to lower herself, the winds slowing back down to a soft breeze, just before they dissipated as her feet landed lightly on the ground. Sokka supported her, draping her right arm over his left shoulder and standing her up. She looked tired, no longer angry and vengeful. Just tired, like she'd been fighting a losing battle for a very long time, and finally she'd given up.

"Everything's gonna be okay," Sokka soothed, leading her over to where Toph and Kyana had taken refuge. Toph looked more awake than before, staring off into space with a look of concern in her sightless eyes.

**[Toph]**

Toph knew she should be feeling at least some form of victory. An "I-told-you-so" moment had just come to pass, but she didn't feel smug at all. She had wanted for Katara to believe her for a while, but she hadn't wanted her to find out like this.

She ignored the throbbing numbness in her bare feet and stood up, facing the sounds of Sokka's quiet soothing. She wanted to say something to comfort the waterbender as well, but felt it would be wrong. She didn't have much connection to this situation. It hadn't been the _Earth Kingdom_ people who'd been wiped out. _She _wasn't the last bender of her element. She would probably never understand the pain Katara felt, but knew she could at least try to sympathize and lay off on the stinging retorts for a while.

The trio headed back to the abandoned inn to gather their belongings, the eerie silence just as foreboding as before.

Toph heard Sokka grunt as he pulled his pack onto his shoulder. "Is it just me or did my bag gain twenty pounds while we were gone?" No one answered, and soon the group was on Kyana's back, heading away from what was left of the Southern Water Tribe.

Katara looked back one last time, and Toph sensed a kind of depressed longing in her voice as she murmured "She was right." No doubt talking about Toph's warning.

"She was right."

_The four of them traveled back north, finding a cave to rest in on a small, pebbly island, not far from the South Pole. They set up camp for the night as the sun dipped on the horizon, and if you looked hard enough, you could see the gleam of ice reflecting the orange glow over the water, shining for a tribe of people that no longer existed. _

* * *

Make sure to check out IceWolfcat's "Avatar: The Last Shadowbender"! It's a great story and he needs encouragement, otherwise he won't finish it! Thanks for reading!

-Terra Bird


	8. Chapter 8: The Path

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"It's freezing out here! Has the sun gone down already?"_

_"Are you sure you're alright, Toph?"_

_"I think that's it! Just on the horizon! The Southern Water Tribe!"_

_"Come on, Katara! I know it's hard to accept, but it's the fact! You never knew these people anyway...It's too late to help them, but the rest of the world still has a chance! Katara!"_

_"Everything's gonna be okay,"_

_"She was right."_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth _

_Chapter 8: The Path_

**[Katara]**

Katara was awakened by a loud coughing. She sat up in her sleeping bag and stared over to the source of the sound.

Toph sat with her head resting on her knees, forearm covering her mouth. She shook for a moment as she continued coughing, before finally it stopped, and she wrapped her arms around her legs.

The group had stopped on a small, rocky island a little ways north of the South Pole. It was warmer here, but blocks of ice could still be spotted in the distance.

Katara moved over to sit by the blind girl, who started coughing again as she reached her. The Avatar rested a hand on her shoulder and asked her if she was okay. Toph finished coughing and looked in her general direction. There were dark circles under her sightless eyes, and her usually pale face was tinted pink.

Katara removed her hand as Toph blinked, forming a confused look. Finally, she said "I'm... A Badgermole?"

Katara, startled, and beginning to think she was just joking, replied "Okay, Toph, enough messing around. Are you okay?"

But Toph was suddenly on all fours, sniffing around and nuzzling Kyana like an animal might. Poor Kyana looked shocked, confused, and slightly frightened.

"Toph! What are you doing?!" The waterbender cried, running over to the girl. She writhed around in Katara's arms as she pulled her off. "Sokka!" Called Katara, getting annoyed.

The warrior walked over drowsily, rubbing and eye with a closed fist. "What's wrong now Katara?" He muttered, oblivious to Toph's confusing actions.

"It's Toph! I don't know what's gotten into her!" She exclaimed, finally putting the blind girl down. She crawled away slowly, sniffling a bit.

Sokka walked over to her when she lay down by Kyana, who was, by now, a little less surprised and more confused. He stared at her for a moment before turning to his sister. "She's just sick." He answered, sitting down by his friend as she started to cough.

"She delirious!" Katara corrected, sitting down on Toph's other side. "I didn't listen to her when she said she was freezing... And now this!" Katara began to feel this was somehow her fault.

Sokka left for a minute, returning with his navy sleeping bag.

"What are you doing?" Katara asked as he began to usher Toph inside of it.

"Well, if she's sick from the cold, we should keep her warm, shouldn't we?" He reasoned, avoiding one of Toph's sneezes.

Katara nodded and knelt beside her as she wiggled a bit inside the toasty sleeping bag.

"Who turned out the lights?" She asked, mesmerized, her voice a bit nasal. Katara looked up at Sokka, who'd got up to feed Kyana some fish from Katara's bag.

There was a sudden shriek from behind Kyana– Sokka came running around her, waving his arms at Katara.

"Katara, Katara!" He shouted, stopping in front of her, looking fidgety. "I was looking in my bag, and-and-and something– white and fluffy– it was– I'd never–"

"What _is_ it Sokka?!" Katara rolled her eyes at her brother's melodramatic antics.

Finally, Sokka stopped and took a deep breath. Then he said, rather quickly, "There's something over there and it's starting to creep me out."

He cautiously peered over Kyana's back, shivering as he observed the animal. Katara followed his example and, with a gasp, spotted the absolutely adorable creature.

It had a round head, a beak protruding from it's face. It's thick body was coated in a glossy layer of white fur, flippers on either side of it's body. Instead of hind legs, it's plump body thinned off to a quaint little tail. The animal had big, black, shiny eyes that contrasted with it's pure white coat. On either side of where Katara guessed the creature's spine would be located, there was a large, white and black-speckled wing, it's feathers ruffled from it's escapade in the bag.

Katara was silent for a moment. She knew what the animal was, she just couldn't place the name...

Suddenly, she brightened, and stepped over Kyana, who gave and indignant and flustered grunt, and knelt next to the adorable creature.

"Sokka, it's fine!" She called, turning to the animal. "It's just an Arctic-Seal-Owl!"

Sokka poked his head out over Kyana's dorsal fin, his sharpened club grasped in one hand. He slowly stepped over to Katara's side, and said casually "How do you think he'd taste over a camp fire?" This immediately earned him a smack from Katara.

"You can't eat him!" She exclaimed angrily. "He's probably the last of his kind!"

The Avatar stared down at him as the Arctic-Seal-Owl blinked its wide eyes. He snapped his beak at her, and Katara patted his head with two fingers. In the distance, one could hear laughing, followed by someone saying loudly "You're so funny Kyana!". The voice got a grunt and a grinding of teeth as a response.

Sokka huffed, irritated. "Whatever. Once you're done with your 'Spiritual Avatar Issues (or SAIs)', call me over." And he went back over to check on Toph. As he disappeared behind Kyana, there was a rather loud sneeze, followed by a quaking of the pebbles on the beach.

Katara turned her full attention back to the Arctic-Seal-Owl, stroking its pelt now and prodding its soft flesh. There was a soft sound, almost like a refined version of Kyana's purring, emanating from the animal's throat. The waterbender smiled and scooped up the small animal, carrying him over to the others.

"Guys," Katara began, referring to Sokka, Toph, and Kyana. "This-" she held up the Arctic Seal-Owl pup. "is Akiak. I think he'll be staying with us for a while."

Sokka looked up with a dull look on his face. "Oh and so this little guy just _magically_ told you his name?"

Katara returned his look with an annoyed glare. "_Yes_, Sokka, my Avatar powers _definitely_ let me talk to animals." She replied, sarcasm layered thickly in her voice.

Sokka shrugged. Being a master of such an art, sarcasm was easy for him to identify. "My bad."

The couple's squabble was interrupted by another sneeze from Toph. Katara stumbled as the ground shook.

"We need to get her something," Katara stated, putting down Akiak. He stayed near them, flopping about awkwardly over the pebbles. He rolled over to Toph, who jumped and shouted "You won't take me alive, airbenders!"

As she continued to shout absolutely ridiculous things, Katara reinforced her point. "I mean, she thinks she's the Avatar!" She gestured with her hand over to the blind girl who was now wiggling about in an attempt to waterbend in the sleeping bag.

Sokka gave a jokingly solemn nod, stroking a fake beard and said "Yes, yes, I agree. This is a serious dilemma."

"Sokka, I'm serious!" She folded her arms and leaned forward, stomping her foot. "Who knows how bad this could get if we leave it?"

Sokka sighed. "Alright, fine. You go work your Avatar magic and I'll wait here with Kyana and 'Akikak' or whatever."

Katara sighed, correcting him on Akiak's name and stepping over to the water's edge a few meters away. "I'll head to the Earth Kingdom. It shouldn't be too far. Kyana?" She asked her friend.

The Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish picked up her head and, with a loud groan, dropped it onto her paws again.

The Avatar sighed. "Looks like I'm on my own, then." And she took off across the water, waterbending the ocean beneath her to take her forward, giving her the appearance of walking on water.

* * *

It was silent, besides the rush of the water beneath the waterbender. All around her, for miles and miles, all you could see was endless ocean, endless sky.

Katara remained focused on the journey ahead, every now and then pulling her arms forward to thrust them back again, reinforcing her speed. Sweat began to collect on her forehead, sticky and salty like the ocean air.

A breeze picked up for a moment and sea spray sprinkled the girl. The sun gazed down at her, it's rays warming her lightly through the overhanging cold of the wearing morning.

Hours passed, the sun peaked the sky, and finally a tiny speck in the distance was spotted. Katara, now thoroughly exhausted and moving slower than before, took off, rejuvenated. The Earth Kingdom's southern most tip was a welcome sight to the tiring Avatar, and as it grew closer, the more excited she became.

Katara now navigated through rippling waves, splashing over them as may a child.

Ever since the previous day's discovery of the Water Tribes' genocide, Katara been quieter, less demanding than usual. She had even refrained from yelling at Toph about her refusal to wash her clothes, in fresh water that Katara had removed the salt from, of course. But now, it seemed she might recover, and the need for revenge seemed less and less important.

Katara stepped onto the Earth Kingdom shore, drying her clothes and stretching her tense muscles. Tiredly, she walked away from the water, tightening the strap of her water pouch. After a moment's rest, the determined Avatar set off to find a cure for her young friend.

* * *

The first thought to enter Katara's mind was how strange the woman before her stood.

After traveling a few miles on foot, Katara had been met with the sight of an old greenhouse, it's glass panes foggy with warmth and age. Vines draped over it's broken roof, dangling just above the earth. Once inside, Katara had been confronted by a small white creature and an old woman who, by the look of things, had just finished feeding the thing.

"Hello, young lady." The woman smiled, the wrinkles in her aged face bunching. "What brings someone as young as yourself to my humble garden?"

Katara, being the kind, polite girl she had been raised to be, bowed in immediate response, a moment later replying "I was hoping you could provide medicine for my friend. She's sick, and we need to be leaving soon."

The old woman, without dropping her warm smile, simply turned back to a dish she was stirring. After a short silence, she said "Oh, well that's too bad. Is her sickness dangerous?"

Quickly, and a little embarrassed, Katara replied. "No, no, she's got a fever and has gone a bit, er, delirious. Hallucinations and that kind of thing."

The old woman nodded slowly and turned to the younger girl once again. "I'm sorry to say, I don't have any remedies to help you. But," she added, spotting Katara's dissapointed face. "If you go to a small swamp, just up ahead, you'll find some Frozen Wood Frogs. Just tell your friend to suck on them, and she'll be fixed up overnight."

Katara gaped at the woman for a moment. "You want my friend to suck on a frozen frog?"

The lady smiled wider. "That's right!"

Katara began to edge away. "Okay, thank you for your time. I guess I'll go find those frogs..."

The waterbender left the greenhouse, a slightly confused expression covering her face.

Some time later, Katara was stopped again by the sight of distant smoke. Was someone camping nearby? Taking a closer look, Katara realized there was too much smoke for this to be a simple campfire.

After a moment's hesitation, Katara took off down the hill she stood on, towards the forest of pine trees before her. A minute later, the forest opened up to a wide valley. In the valley was a small Earth Kingdom village, the thatch of the roofs alight with dancing flames.

Her immediate reaction was to uncap her water pouch, coating her arms with the clear liquid within. It didn't occur to her that maybe the people below would be terrified of a girl with a foreign bending style, but of course if she had it wouldn't have stopped her.

Tearing down into the valley, the blast of heat that hit her made her skin crawl, and the smoke that gusted into her eyes made them water. Katara was met by fleeing villagers and terrified animals of all sorts– the familiar Ostrich Horses of the Earth Kingdom, some Pig-Chickens and Rooster-Cows, even a family of Boarqupines.

The Avatar threw out her arms, dousing the nearest building with water. The fire's power lessened, but it didn't retreat entirely. Katara tried again on the next house, but the fire surrounding them all would take much too long to put out at this rate.

With a final decision, Katara leaped to the top of the recently-watered building and thrust her arms out on each side, raising them as she turned slowly.

Water spilled like rain off of her arms and onto the village below. Slowly, the fire died away, and all that was left was the smoldering wreckage of the town.

People started to edge back towards their village nervously, staring up at Katara in a mixture of wonder and fright. After all, who could this mysterious bringer of rain be?

Katara leaped back down into the muddy road, bending as much water as she could from her clothes and the street as she could, refilling her pouch. Suddenly, a roar erupted around her as the crowd began to cheer with their appreciation.

A startled Avatar met some of their grateful gazes, lowering her hands slowly from their bending positions.

An old man, much reminding her of the old lady from before, came to stand before her.

"Thank you, kind spirit, for your assistance in dousing the wildfire!" He thanked, others cheering with agreement. The old man continued. "Our village will remember this deed for the rest of our time, and long after that. It is a good thing to know a spirit watches over us."

Katara, confused, decided to play along. "Oh, well, it was not a problem. I apologize for my previous... Absences, and future ones, but I really must get going."

She must've said the right thing, for the man bowed and replied "All forgiven, kind spirit."

Katara took a step backward. "Farewell," she said uncertainly, turning back towards the forest in which she came, the villagers waving behind her.

When she finally left their line of sight, Katara released a breath she realized she'd been holding. So now, she was not only the last waterbender, but now the spirit and savior of a village. Way to keep a low profile.

Katara made her way back onto the path, wondering how Sokka and Toph were faring. She wondered if Akiak would still be there when she returned, or if that was like the time she found a Sparrow-Kitten in the streets of Ba Sing Se and it flew away after an hour.

A distant sound interrupted the Avatar's thoughts, and she looked up automatically. Ahead of her rolled an Ostrich-Horse drawn cart. Searching frantically for a place to hide, Katara finally leaped behind an enormous boulder. It's rough sandy surface scraped her palms, leaving grains on her skin. Katara peered out after the cart. She would wait for it to pass.

What the girl did not expect to see, however, was the masked man who fell from the sky and onto the carriage. Silently, he danced his way over to the front, knocking out the unsuspecting driver of the cart and returning to his spot on top of the carriage. Pulling out a pair of twin swords, he cut open the thin roof and reaches inside. There was a cry of fright as the masked bandit stole something within. He pulled out a box and leapt off of the cart.

Katara was dumbfounded by the sudden theft, so she simply stood by for a moment as it went on. Finally regaining her senses, Katara stepped out from behind the boulder and confronted the man. He turned his blue mask towards her. It was detailed and truly unnerving, carved with intricate designs.

The pair had a silent stare down, sizing each other up. Katara knew she didn't look like much, and also knew of the obvious discrimination men had against women, and she expected a fight. She was once again startled as the man turned to flee.

Katara hesitated before charging after him, bending water out of it's pouch again and moving it around her arms. The man moved silently, like a spirit. He was easy to spot against the dull scenery of the repetitive forest around them.

When the bandit looked behind him, he came to a startled halt. Katara guessed he hadn't expected anyone to follow him- let alone someone who was supposedly dead. He set down his box and pulled out his swords as Katara raised her arms threateningly.

"Return the box now, or do it the harder way later." Her warning was ignored, of course. Katara wondered why people even tried to persuade criminals to do the right thing like that. The effect, she supposed. He charged her, left shoulder leaning in ever so slightly.

Katara sidestepped a vicious slice of one sword, lashing the bandit with a swift uppercut of water. He was knocked backward, and Katara could picture the astonishment on his face beneath the mask as he landed.

As he stood, Katara lashed out with another blast of water, arms outstretched, spinning on one foot to strike out again. The man, now thoroughly soaked and pummeled, scrambled backward, as silent as ever, and stood once more. He stole a glance towards the box, then towards Katara. Thinking he was going to flee for good, Katara lowered her arms.

The man lurched forward, snatching up the box, and disappearing into the undergrowth. Katara almost pursued him, then gave up after thinking better on it.

The girl sighed, turning once again back onto the path. The chaos reminded her of the Air Nomads– they must have gone truly mad to destroy an entire race. Their entire way of life was built on peace and tranquility– was this their way of spreading it? Had they secretly been this way all along, finally releasing their anger on the world over some provocative move by one nation? These thoughts swam through Katara's head as she continued on her journey down this eventful path. Only later did she begin to wonder about the masked bandit.

Who was he? Why did he steal from a simple traveler? Had the Air Nomads really created enough imbalance to bring poverty to an entire nation? Was that why he was so determined to get that box? Was he really the bad guy? What if that box was previously his? What was inside it? Why was she thinking so precisely about this?

Katara shook her head and sighed, dragging her feet slightly. She was finally hit with a wave of exhaustion as the full reality of the day overcame her. She hadn't done a very great job of staying out of sight. But wasn't it the Avatar's duty to help those in need? Then again, who was she to call herself the Avatar when she hadn't even mastered a second element?

_You have Toph to teach you. _She thought, then picked up her pace as she remembered her journey's purpose. _The bog should be just over this hill..._

Surely enough, as she arrived at the hill's summit, Katara spotted a pond of dull gray water, it's surface tickled by stray reeds. The low hum of constant frog calls rang in her ears, and she jogged excitedly down to the water's edge.

Wading in, Katara immediately spotted a few half-frozen frogs hopping about on land. Then, she sucked in a breath and ducked under the surface, scraping her fingers along the bottom. Cold, oddly shaped rocks covered the bottom. Pulling one up, the waterbender almost dropped it in surprise.

Under a glassy coating of ice was the body of a frog. It was brown with a few paler stripes.

There wasn't much to study about the insignificant creature, but Katara stared at it for a while. Then she filled up her water pouch with the pond water, picking up a few frogs along the way.

As soon as she had arrived, Katara left, pulling a load of frogs along with her, the tiny creatures cradled in her arms.

With the Frozen Wood Frogs in possession, Katara passed the scene of the theft. She looked back at the skid marks in the dirt, feeling she should have either succeeded or never tried. One last question penetrated her mind, hanging around for a lasting while.

_ Who was he, and will she ever see him again?_

Katara picked up her feet and faced ahead again, giving a meaningless snort through her nose. So what if they did meet again? It's not like he would stick around, with the shy stealth he had used before. Why she was still thinking about this was a mystery to her, but Katara finally dropped the subject as she passed the scene of the village fire. The sound of bustling villagers met her ears, and peering through the trees, Katara could just make out the smiles on their faces as the celebrated the meeting with the village spirit and savior.

_Too bad I'll never be there for you again,_ Katara sighed, hating to pointlessly raise their hopes for a better life. But, she remembered, she really was trying to bring about balance once more, wasn't she? Now that she fully understood the devastation of the war, she felt determined to end it, to restore the peace she once thought she knew.

But did she really know the full extent of devastation? What about the Air Nomads? They had gone against their entire culture to start this war. How had this effected them?

Does it matter? Katara asked herself as she neared the ocean's edge, re-freezing a few thawing frogs with her bending. They were monsters, and didn't deserve this kind of concern. Katara stepped out onto the water's surface, gliding over the calm water back south, heading for the island where she'd left her friends.

_After instructing her brother on how to use the frozen frogs, the girl sprawled out next to the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish. The sun was sinking low in the sky, and as she drifted off, the girl couldn't help but think about the mysterious bandit from earlier. _


	9. Chapter 9: Earthbending

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"So, you're the Avatar. And your a waterbender. I guess that means you'll be learning earthbending next, huh?"_

_"The Avatar State! That must be what happened! You got so angry that you must've triggered it!"_

_"Toph! What are you doing?!"_

_"This is amazing!"_

_"Come on, Katara! I know it's hard to accept, but it's the fact! You never knew these people anyway...It's too late to help them, but the rest of the world still has a chance! Katara!"_

_"Thank you, kind spirit, for your assistance in dousing the wildfire!"_

_"Everything's gonna be okay,"_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 9: Earthbending_

**[Katara]**

A loud explosion of a sound reverberated through the air, waking Katara and Kyana, who's paw twitched with irritation.

The gang had moved back to the mainland of the Earth Kingdom, Katara half asleep on Kyana's back. Toph had been surprised out of her mind to find her feet off of the ground and a thawed, wriggling frog in her mouth. After a short, confused argument, they had packed and headed off to the mainland.

Now, Katara sat bolt upright, horrified that maybe a group of airbenders had discovered them in their special little cove. It was made of dark, smooth stone, worn away by years of crashing ocean waves. Woven into its side were intricate cave systems, as described by the all-seeing blind earthbender.

The Avatar relaxed noticeably as she realized the startling sound was only Toph as she blew apart her earth tent. A movement to Katara's right made her jump, only before she realized it was just Akiak. He had stayed with the group, making them all laugh with his awkward gait. Even Toph thought his strange manner of movement created amusing vibrations in the earth. Akiak barked at Sokka quit often, chasing him around, pecking at his head if he didn't give him any jerky or meat scraps. This made the girls laugh even more.

Katara yawned and stood from her sleeping bag, raising her arms above her head in a stretch. She then walked over to Toph, who had knelt to pat Akiak on the head when he flew over. The two of them were practically partners in crime.

"Good morning, Toph." She yawned. Toph stood back up.

"That's _Sifu_ Toph, to you, pupil." The earthbender corrected. Katara remembered that today was the day they were to start their training. Katara rolled her eyes. "Fine, _Sifu_ Toph, when do you want to start?"

After a mocking hesitation, Toph decided "How about, right now?" And she walked off towards the entrance to a cave. She seemed to study the wall for a moment, before making a minor sweeping motion with her heel. The ground beneath Katara lurched and slid her over next to the blind twelve year old.

"Well, are you comin' or do I have to drag you over here?" She snapped, folding her arms but not turning towards the Avatar. Katara apologized awkwardly, then turned to the cave entrance. It was pitch dark, but Katara could tell it sloped slightly down. Toph, obviously, wasn't fazed in the least.

"This would be a good place to practice sensing the vibrations in the earth." She stated, slamming a heal into the rock beneath them. "This place is perfect! Come on," she added, marching into the dark mouth. Katara followed nervously, widening her eyes to try and see something other than the shadowy outline of her earthbending teacher.

After a few minutes of travel through the dank, musty tunnel, Katara ran into Toph, who stumbled but caught her balance. After apologizing, Katara asked why they'd stopped, to which Toph replied "This is it."

"Okay, so if you want to earthbend, you need to have a stable stance. Separate your feet like this," Toph earthbent the ground beneath Katara, setting her feet into a horse stance. The Avatar almost fell over.

"Now, clear your head. Focus only on the earth and what's inside of it." The blind girl continued as she fell into a similar stance as Katara's. "Listen to it. _Feel_ it. Can you see anything?"

Katara focused hard. Toph began to walk next to her, sending obvious vibrations into the earth. Closing her eyes to block sight entirely, the waterbender imagined Toph moving, and pictured her in her head. She followed the vibrations for a moment with her head before the grew quieter. Opening her eyes, Katara could no longer make out her teacher's outline in the darkness. She felt along the walls as a voice called out "Use your feet, Katara! You can't only be able to sense footsteps if you want to truly be an earthbender. Come find me."

With an exasperated sigh, Katara closed her eyes again. She 'looked' deeper into the earth, searching for a shuffle of feet.

It was like breaking through a barrier. As she delved deeper into the earth mentally, she discovered all kinds of things. She pictured small creatures tunneling beneath the surface, pushing dirt with their claws and noses and tails. She felt roots expanding and drawing in water. She sensed chasms full of ground water. But the closest echo of a vibration was the steady and strong heartbeat of a particular young, blind girl.

Smiling knowingly, Katara slowly, keeping her feet pressed to the ground so as not to lose sight of the heartbeat, found her way over to Toph, discovering she was encased in earth. As she approached, it fell away, revealing the earthbending sifu.

"Very good, pupil." She praised with mock formality. "That's a very good start. Now enough hide and seek– let's head back up to the surface to practice some real earthbending."

Toph marched confidently out of the tunnel, followed enthusiastically by Katara, who had gained a new sense of confidence in her steps through this seismic sense.

Reaching the cave entrance, the duo walked out to a part of the cove that extended into the water. Katara spotted Sokka wrestling Kyana for a piece of meat- Kyana was winning. Akiak was circling above.

Toph interrupted her observation by stopping and turning to her student. "Now, we'll be working on your form. No offense, but your stance down in the cave was a little sloppy."

Katara narrowed her eyes in irritation. "Maybe I'd do better if we did this in the light." She grumbled.

"Heard that," announced Toph to the Avatar's dismay. "Anyway," she continued, falling into a steady stance. "Take a stance." Katara followed the instructions, spreading her feet like Toph, bringing her bent arms to her sides, fists closed.

The earthbender broke her stance and approached Katara, explaining the stance to her.

"You need to be steady. Earth is a stubborn element. You need to be physically and mentally unmovable." Toph said, examining Katara's stance. She gave her a nudge and Katara fell forward, struggling to find her balance as her teacher continued.

"Get off the balls of your feet. This isn't dance class." She chastised, walking out from behind her student. "Earthbending requires a head-on attitude. You can't just beat around the bush like a waterbender. Keep your heels on the earth so you can sense vibrations well."

Katara did her best to stabilize her stance and, judging by Toph's slight change in subject, did a pretty good job.

"Now," she started, bending a couple of boulders out of the earth in front of them. "We'll start with moving a rock. The physical motion is pretty simple." Toph gave and example by standing sideways, picking up the foot closer to the boulder and stepping towards it while simultaneously punching a fist forward. The rock was launched straight and far towards the horizon, finally lowering straight down into the water.

Katara stared after it until Toph continued. "All you have to do is focus on the rock and be assertive. If you doubt yourself, the rock will doubt you, too. Okay, now earthbend!"

Katara slammed her fist forward, towards the rock, a hard look set on her face, determination burning in her eyes. Her blow was solid and firm, and Katara moved her foot with the fist. As her foot struck the ground, her fist finished its movement.

To Katara's astonishment, the rock obeyed her command. It blasted off in the direction Toph's boulder had taken, though didn't travel as far. There was a cheer from her right.

"You did it!" Her sifu praised, folding her arms casually.

Katara stared, not breaking form, after her rock. A great sense of accomplishment overcame her, and she finally lowered her hand and cheered for herself. Toph began to instruct her on how to bring a boulder out of the earth.

* * *

**[Aang]**

Aang muttered under his breath, steering the bison he flew over the open ocean. A few bison followed, carrying other monks, friends of Aang's who had given their loyalties to him after he was declared a dishonorable Air Nomad. Councilor Pasang's hurtful proclamation still rang in his ears, and his hard expression of that day still showed up in his dreams.

Aang shook his head in an attempt to clear it. Ever since that Avatar had escaped his grasp, he'd been in a bitter stupor, subconsciously going about life. He rarely spoke, always thinking of how he would ever find her again.

How was he going to get around her friends? They were strong, but not unbeatable. They all had weaknesses. The boy had no bending. The young girl was blind. Aang was still astonished that they'd put up a fight at all.

Twice he'd lost her, the Avatar. Aang had mapped out where they'd encountered each other previously, and noted they'd been heading south since the estate they'd first met at. They couldn't possibly be going to the South Pole? The Avatar must've known that the Air Nomads of 100 years ago killed them all.

But then again, it seemed like the perfect place to hide– it was very remote, completely made of water and ice to bend, and at least some of the old villages must've been there.

Aang stood on the Sky Bison's head and turned to his followers.

"The Avatar, as we know, has been heading south for the past weeks." He announced, gesturing to them all. "I have a hunch they'll be heading for the South Pole."

Everyone seemed to understand his logic, so Aang returned to leading his brigade across the endless sky.

* * *

**[Katara]**

Katara and Toph returned to the camp to discover Akiak flopped on top of a miserable Sokka's head, nibbling on some chewy jerky. Kyana lay on her side, looking bored and uninterested in their silly motives.

"How was earthbending?" Sokka asked automatically, evidently sounding uninterested.

"It was great!" Katara replied happily, waving her arms for emphasis as she explained her day with Toph, who seemed to think Katara was crazy for thinking that such basic bending and forms were as spectacular as she described them to be.

After they caught up on each others' days, the gang set up a camp fire, Sokka cooking a few small fish he'd caught earlier. Toph set up her earth tent a bit earlier that night before returning to the group to pet Akiak's head. A small sound rumbled in the Arctic Seal-Owl's throat as she did this, adding to the comforting mood of the evening.

As the fire died down, they all prepared for bed, chatting a bit as the sun sank in the sky. Akiak curled up with Kyana, who gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

Katara, exhausted from the day's lessons, collapsed in her sleeping bag as soon as she said goodnight to Kyana and the others. She heard Sokka snoring and Toph closing the front of her earth tent, then Akiak's whistling breaths and Kyana's deep ones.

_As the quiet of the night lulled her, the Avatar thought about her journey so far. Ever since she and her brother had met their blind friend, so much had changed. Now there was a war to focus on. She was the Avatar. She could end the war. _


	10. Chapter 10: The Freedom Fighters

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"My name is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am the Avatar."_

_"So, you're the Avatar. And your a waterbender. I guess that means you'll be learning earthbending next, huh?"_

_"Earthbending requires a head-on attitude. You can't just beat around the bush like a waterbender. Keep your heels on the earth so you can sense vibrations well."_

_"The Avatar, as we know, has been heading south for the past weeks. I have a hunch they'll be heading for the South Pole."_

_"You did it!"_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 10: The Freedom Fighters_

**[Toph]**

Robin-Sparrows chirped loudly in high branches of an extensive forest. Worms-Beetles wriggled their way through the soft earth a few feet away. A low hanging, early morning mist clung to the travelers' skin as they walked.

Toph yawned. It had been a long week, the group getting early starts and late ends to their days. Sokka in particular was grumpy, wanting to get a move on with things.

They had decided to travel to Omashu, an old Earth Kingdom city almost untouched by the war. It would be a good place to gather their bearings, and they were all hoping for some decent food.

Kyana let out a low whine somewhere on Toph's right. The earthbender could hear Katara comforting her friend quietly, assuring her they would be able to stop soon. This was good news for all of them; they'd been on their feet since before dawn and were all still exhausted from the previous days' travel.

When they finally did stop, it was with groaning relief they collapsed among the roots of a rather large tree.

Toph lay back, producing a lump of dirt to rest her head on. She listened to the sounds of the forest and Sokka pulling out a snack from his pack. Kyana purred contentedly as Toph felt the vibrations of Katara stroking her large head. Akiak tumbled clumsily off of the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish's back, letting out a screech. The Arctic Seal-Owl launched itself into the air, his wings beating the air silently. Akiak swooped over, landing on Toph's lap. She stroked his silky head.

The forest was quiet. Rays of sunlight broke through the trees and warmed the blind girl's skin. For a minute, the war was forgotten, all in the silence of the forest.

The silence.

Too late Toph realized the birds had stopped their joyous songs. She leapt to her feet, hearing a snap in the branches above. The girl opened her mouth to warn her friends, but the sound of whizzing pierced her ears, and she was thrown back by some force and pinned to a tree.

Wrestling against the hold of the arrows, as Toph discovered they were, she heard her friends' startled shouts. The thud of a boomerang. The slash of claws. A loud screeching cry. The slice of waterbending. All the things Toph had come to known as the sounds of battle with her friends.

Toph stopped her struggling as a voice sounded through the area. The fighting had obviously ended, as there was a gloating tone scraping the surface of the accusing words.

"Who are you?!" Asked the voice- the voice of a kid, quite a bit older than herself. He continued. "Why did you come here?"

He obviously had someone at weapon point- it turned out to be Sokka.

"We're just travelers!" The Water Tribe boy replied quickly. This answer was obviously incompetent, because Sokka took in a nervous breath as the interrogation continued.

"Spies, my bet! Nomads, just passing through? I see right through your lies, airbender!"

Toph could sense more than just this one person- he obviously had friends with him. One was breathing deeply- he was either a very big guy, or he was thoroughly tired. Katara's voice spoke up, somewhere far from Toph's right.

"We're not lying!" She cried indignantly. "We're from th-the Earth Kingdom! I can prove it!"

The boy snarled a reply. "So what if you are?! Doesn't mean your not working for the Air Nomads!"

There was the sound of crunching leaves, and a new voice tried to persuade the kid. "Jet, we can't prove that they're spies! Just let 'em go."

The voice was scratchy, but in mid-tone, like an older boy who'd breathed in too much smoke from a fire. This person, however, was probably closer to Toph's own age than the first boy.

There was a thoughtful silence. Then, with a decisive tone, the first kid, "Jet", replied "Your right, Smellerbee. We should give them a chance. Pipsqueak, let go of the girl."

There was a shuffle to Toph's right, and Toph suspected this Pipsqueak character had released Katara from his grip. He was the one breathing heavily. Toph wished she could get a good look at them all, but her feet dangled above the earth uselessly.

Toph, who'd remained silent up until now, called out with annoyance. "Could someone give me a hand?"

There was slight surprise in the response, as if they'd all forgotten Toph were there.

"Oh, yeah. Longshot, help the younger one down."

There was the shifting of leaves moving underfoot, and suddenly a strong grip yanked the arrows from the edge of Toph's tunic.

With an unsteady landing, Toph's feat struck the earth, and vibrations responded.

Kyana and Akiak were next to each other, hearts thudding with anxiety. Katara was standing a few inches from Sokka. The whole lot of them were many feet from where Toph stood.

Then, there were the unfamiliar rebounding vibrations of other people. About six in all, each of different stature. The one who'd been speaking to her friends, Jet, was a tall, lean character with a jaunty stance. He released a carefree and cocky vibe. Toph frowned with irritation and walked over to where her companions stood.

"Sorry for attacking you earlier," came the apology from Jet. "Out here, we're on alert about everything. Gotta stay on your toes, know what I mean?"

He spoke most directly at Katara, though referring to everyone in general. This added to Toph's growing list of things that she didn't like about this guy. Katara, however, gave a terribly different reaction. Her heart rate increased, and, much to Toph's disgust, chose an embarrassed tone to speak with.

"Oh, yes. I mean, you guys live here?" She said, and even though she was blind, Toph could tell she wasn't looking straight at him.

_What_ is _it with her_? Toph thought as Jet continued.

"My name's Jet. These are my Freedom Fighters." The kid gestured to each person in turn as he introduced them all. "Sneers, Longshot, Smellerbee, Pipsqueak, and The Duke."

Katara seemed to break slightly out of her trance. "Oh, well, I'm Katara," The Avatar too made hand motions in the direction of each person. "and these are my brother and friends, Sokka, Toph, Kyana and Akiak." Akiak screeched happily at mention of his name, and Kyana gave a grunt/whir of acknowledgment.

"Well, it's nice to meet you all." Jet replied pleasantly, and Toph could tell he was smiling.

"C'mon," he continued, turning away from them. "We'll show you our treehouse."

Sokka's excited squeal made Toph smirk. "You guys have a _treehouse_?"

"Well, yeah, where else are you gonna live in a forest with trees this tall?"

Toph must not have been paying full enough attention. That, or something had not fully registered when Jet had said "treehouse", because when they arrived, Toph couldn't sense it. Only when Katara and Jet and a few of the Freedom Fighters vanished from her seismic range did she fully realize what this all meant. She would have to leave solid ground.

"Are you crazy?!" She exclaimed as Sokka called her over to the rope that would take them up. "I can't see up there! There's no earth!"

Sokka sighed in exasperation. "Come on Toph, your making a big deal out of nothing. Just... Stick with me, like we did in the South Pole."

After a quieter argument, composed of incoherent sounds and over emphasized and rather unnecessary hand motions, Sokka ended up getting himself and Toph up into the trees.

When Toph stepped onto the platform, she was stunned. The place was awesome. Or at least, it would have been, she supposed, if she could _feel_ it. Instead, her feet brushed against the dull and uninteresting surface of wooden planks.

The blind earthbender could hear murmurings as they arrived, most in question of the fuss she was making about leaving the ground, to which Jet quieted them all down with some theory of fear of heights. They didn't know her exceptional hearing had enlightened Toph of their misgivings, and Toph frowned at their ignorance.

Toph grabbed Sokka's arm as he offered it to her and began guiding her about. The earthbender could practically feel the questioning gazes being sent her way. She hated this sense of helplessness. She was grateful when the silence was broken by Jet.

"The Air Nomads have tried lots of times to find us. We're not exactly unknown by that nation." He said, evidence of a proud smirk on his tongue. "All of us were hurt some way or the other by the Air Nomads. Longshot's village was destroyed by a violent windstorm caused by airbenders. The Duke, we found him and Pipsqueak traveling through the woods after their village had been taken by Air Nomads."

Jet paused as if remembering something. When he finally spoke, his voice was quiet and solemn. "The Air Nomads tore apart my village. They took away my parents, and almost took me." Toph could barely sense him turn to Katara. As Toph rolled her eyes, he continued. "We're orphans of war. It's hard out here, but we're the lucky ones, I guess."

The Avatar gave a sympathetic gasp. "That's terrible; I'm so sorry. I wish there was something we could do to help."

They continued walking, Jet asking them to stay for the night out of apology for the day's earlier accusation. They accepted, some more eagerly than others.

* * *

Hours passed quickly, and the group had little to do. Katara had gone down back to the ground to comfort Kyana, who'd been left alone below the trees, followed by Akiak. Sokka sat in the small room they'd been lent to use across from Toph, digging through his pack for any remnants of food. The earthbender lay on her back, one knee folded, her foot on the ground, the other leg crossed over it.

The warm summer sun shined through a hole in the wooden walls. It's warmth spread over Toph's skin unwelcomly; it was much too hot without the unseen sunlight coating their skin.

Toph spread her arms out to her sides with a loud groan. She sat up, crossing her legs.

"What are we supposed to _do_ around here?" She asked, beginning to pick at the skin between her toes.

Sokka's reply didn't come immediately. He was involved with much more important matters at the moment– such as finding food. With an irritated huff, Toph sprawled out on the thick, wooden floor again. Relief to her boredom would come just then.

The scratchy voice from that Smellerbee kid sounded through the room and Toph sat up, looking rejuvenated.

"Hey, uh, Jet thought you guys might be bored, and offered to take you guys out on patrol." He said, and Toph could tell by the direction of the sound that he was peering around the corner.

Sokka stood dejectedly, having only found a couple of inedible nuts in a pouch. "We might as well," he said, speaking more to Toph than Smellerbee. "It beats sitting around and doing nothing all day."

Toph stood up and, taking Sokka's arm, the two of them followed Smellerbee onto a bridge connecting platforms.

When they reached the main platform, Sokka helped Toph make the terrifying decent on the strange rope.

Finally, her feet struck the ground, and Toph indulged herself in the beauty of "sight". The blind earthbender held her arms lightly in front of her, relishing in the fact that she was no longer useless.

Hearing the unmistakable zip of the rope burning against a form of pulley, Toph turned towards the sound. It wouldn't let her "see" it any better, but it was sort of like a reflex reaction.

Either way, Toph turned towards it as Smellerbee came into her seismic range, followed by Longshot, who hadn't been there before. Or at least as far as Toph could tell. He was a pretty silent fellow.

There seemed to be a silent exchange between the two Freedom Fighters, Smellerbee occasionally speaking aloud. Toph didn't really care to listen to any of it, put snapped bag to attention when she sensed more vivid vibrations in the earth.

At first, Toph thought they'd begun to walk, only before realizing that the vibrations were much too heavy to be footsteps. Or at least, the footsteps of anyone around her.

It was like witnessing an avalanche through your toes.

Toph called for quiet as Smellerbee finished the briefings. With an annoyed "What?" for a response, the earthbender lowered her palm to the earth to see if she could get a better idea of what it was. Was she just crazy? The others didn't seem to feel anything. But it was definitely getting closer.

Toph felt Sokka take a sideways step to her right. He was probably getting odd stares from Longshot and Smellerbee, who were simultaneously probably silently inquiring about this strange behavior.

Toph decided to ease their confusion.

"Something's heading this way." She confirmed, sensing the two Freedom Fighters exchange glances. "Something _big_."

Sokka stepped back towards her. "Are you sure? I mean, could anything remotely big fit through these trees?"

Turning toward him, Toph gave a sharp reply. "Have I ever been wrong before?"

This seemed to be a sufficient answer, because Sokka shut up after that. His trust in Toph seemed to rub off, because Smellerbee and Longshot seemed to be becoming more convinced.

"If something really is coming," Smellerbee started, turning his head towards Longshot for approval. "We should warn Jet."

Toph felt him nod just before the pair took off.

Sokka and Toph came to a silent agreement to let Toph lead the way. The blind earthbender ran towards the vibrations, which grew stronger with every step she took.

And as suddenly as it had started, it all stopped. Toph came to an abrupt halt, catching Sokka by surprise. After almost tumbling over her, he asked her what was wrong.

"It's stopped." The girl stated with a hint of surprise. She felt Sokka gaze around, then felt his shock with a jolt of his heartbeat as he cried "Look!"

After a few irritated moments of silence, Sokka realized his mistake and described the scene.

"Air Nomads! They're flying just overhead! On Sky Bison! That must've been why they were so heavy-footed; they've got thousand-pound beasts on their side!"

Toph blinked. What were they doing here? They hadn't seen Air Nomads since Kyoshi Island. _Could it be that annoying little monk Aang with his gang of outcasts?_ The numbers she'd felt them in rejected the idea.

Turning to Sokka, Toph said "We need to warn the others!"

"And Katara," Sokka finished as they took off the way they'd come.

Arriving at the base of the tree house, the duo were met by Jet and his Freedom Fighters. Smellerbee and Longshot must have rounded them all up.

"What's going on?" Jet asked immediately, obviously anxious to get rid of any threat. The answer Toph provided probably didn't help this.

"Air Nomads! They're coming this way!" She exclaimed.

Just then Katara arrived, closely followed by Kyana and Akiak. "What's going on?" She repeated Jet's earlier words. Sokka explained the situation. Katara immediately became serious.

"We need to drive them away somehow. I think they're going to try to tear apart the forest!" Sokka concluded.

Toph felt a shift in heart rate from Jet and a few other Freedom Fighters. She could almost picture Jet clenching his fists as he murmured "They took my home once. They're _not _taking it again."

Everyone was set in a determined silence. The nomads couldn't possibly tear up the forest. Wasn't it in their culture to respect all life?

Toph didn't know if they respected that way of life or not anymore, but if they took the forest, they took up the only home for a bunch of homeless kids with it.

_I was really lucky, _Toph thought with regret. _I never had to deal with the war growing up. _

These thoughts made Toph feel guilty, but boosted her determination as well. She wasn't going to stand by any longer and watch this war happen. It was time to take action. Teaching earthbending wasn't the _only _way to help.

* * *

The next few minutes passed like seconds. The strategy was simple. _Do whatever it takes to keep the trees standing. _It seemed easy enough.

Toph felt the winds pick up and brush against her cheek. The soft, almost non-existent vibrations of leaves falling to the ground greeted her feet, and she shifted each one, gaining a clearer image of the world around her.

As the wind grew stronger, it began to howl through the trees. To Toph's sensitive ears, the sound was almost unbearable. The blind girl fell into a solid stance, standing strong against the wind that nearly blew Sokka into her.

When the shouting broke out, Toph became uncertain. The people around her were leaving her seismic range, most likely either climbing the trees or being swept away by the forceful winds.

Kyana stood strong at Toph's side, reinforcing the fact that Toph wasn't entirely alone. Soon however, the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish too began to get impatient.

Finally, Sokka's distant call sounded above the wind.

"Toph, can you raise us all up to the canopy?"

Glad she was able to do something besides sit and be useless, Toph slammed a foot down, twisted her wrists, and lifted her arms, open palms face-down. The group shot upward, landing where Toph hoped was the right spot. After receiving a distant "Thanks" from Sokka, the earthbender assumed she'd estimated correctly.

The now recognizable sound of firing arrows just penetrated the howling wind. There was an angry battle cry, and Toph had a pretty good feeling the nomads had arrived.

The few that landed were as good as doomed. Any that the blind girl could sense were eliminated swiftly. The Sky Bison were a bit trickier, considering their heavier weight. It wasn't easy throwing a two ton Flying Bison into the air, no matter their obvious dominance in that element.

Luckily, they didn't land much, and when they did, Toph usually had help from Katara. Her earthbending was still pretty rusty, but much better than it had been a week ago.

All too soon, it seemed, did the Air Nomads back off to a higher elevation. While everyone else celebrated a supposed victory up on that high rock platform, Toph listened thoughtfully. She could hear the groaning of the Sky Bison as the circled overhead. They weren't gone yet. Maybe they were still retreating? Something didn't feel right.

The winds still hadn't died down. That wasn't all- they seemed to be gusting harder than Toph thought possible. She had to encase her own ankles in earth.

Even though she hated to spoil a party, Toph knew the battle wasn't over.

"Uh... Guys?" The earthbender began, but no one would ever find out what she was about to say, for at that moment, a thunderous echoed through the area.

The celebrating came to an abrupt halt, replaced by horrified gasps and angry shouts. That one sound was repeated all around them until Toph was sure of what was happening- Sokka had been right; the airbenders were literally uprooting the forest.

"No!" Came The Duke's indignant cry. From Smellerbee's direction there was an inaudible murmur. Jet, however, made no sound at all. He simply stared out at the forest in disbelief as his home was destroyed for the second time.

Toph sensed Katara move over to him to rest a comforting hand on his shoulder. Her tone was sympathetic as she comforted him quietly.

* * *

When the wind died down, Toph lowered the platform back down into the earth. A disconcerting silence fell over the fallen forest, only moments before so boisterous with activity and bird calls. It reminded Toph of the South Pole– the desolate setting complimented by a looming silence.

The Freedom Fighters said nothing- they simply picked their ways through the wreckage of their home. Once again, Toph related this to her Southern Water Tribe experience- Katara and Sokka discovering the destruction of their culture and ancestors.

Pushing the thought aside, Toph subconsciously registered the approaching footsteps of many people. Apparently, Jet had evacuated the tree house just in time.

The returning children gasped at the destruction, some of the younger ones bursting into tears.

Toph sensed Jet leave Katara's side, climbing onto a fallen tree. The crowd of kids went silent as they waited for his speech. He sighed loudly, then, in a quiet voice, like a voice struggling not to explode with anger, he made his announcement.

"We lost today." Jet started. A few people stared down at their feet in mourning. "We lost our home. We lost our forest." Jet's voice shook with effort. "But you know what we didn't lose?"

No one answered. There were only the distinct vibrations of a person shaking their head.

"We didn't lose each other. We didn't lose the one thing that truly matters out here, and that is the greatest thing to hope for out of all this. Yeah, it happened pretty quickly, and yeah, we lost the battle." Jet's voice rose as he continued. "But we haven't lost the war. Not _yet. _We'll figure something out," His voice finally cracked, and he paused.

"We'll find a new place, eventually. Even if it takes us until our feet are calloused and our legs won't support us any more, we'll find it."

His speech ended, and the crowd dispersed into anxious chatter. Jet approached Katara, Sokka, and Toph. "Thanks," he said, a hint of his old smile in his voice. "For all of your help. We'll be going soon. Can't stay long, not after that."

Jet turned away, heading back to his group of Freedom Fighters. Toph was filled with sympathy and guilt once again.

_The two parties departed, each heading a different direction. Maybe someday, those Freedom Fighters would find a truly permanent home, but for now, adopting nomadic ways was best. Maybe this was the airbenders' plan, thought the blind earthbender. To convert everyone to the nomadic way of life. _

* * *

A/N: I know Smellerbee's a girl, but you know how many people mistake her for a boy and all... So yeah that's how it is. Deal with it. Peace out.


	11. Chapter 11: The Avatar Returns

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"How do we know you're not Air Nomad spies? Kyoshi Island has managed to avoid the war for this long! We're not giving in now!"_

_"You mean, this whole time, Katara and I have been... Lied to?"_

_"We lost today."_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 11: The Avatar Returns_

**[Katara]**

Ever since the event with the Freedom Fighters, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Kyana and Akiak had constantly been on the move. They kept hidden in the forests of the Earth Kingdom, practicing bending techniques when possible.

No one, besides the isolated warriors of Kyoshi, the stealthy members of the Freedom Fighters, and Aang and his nomads, knew that the Avatar had returned. Sokka felt it was better to stay hidden, but Katara felt differently.

If Katara was the Avatar, and she was, it was her duty to the world to stop the Air Nomads and bring balance among the four nations. However, if they stayed hidden in the shadows, how could she possibly help anyone?

Toph, as far as anyone knew, had no opinion. She pretty much just followed the siblings silently, listening to them squabble all day.

It was a particularly humid day in the Earth Kingdom. The gang had stopped along the banks of a fresh water lake. Sokka had immediately decided upon fishing, as he had not been able to successfully do so for a long time.

Katara, Kyana, and Akiak had taken to playing around, splashing after each other, laughing and hissing and screeching. Toph sat at the waters edge, splashing her feet in the shallows from her position atop a small boulder.

Sokka called out suddenly, "Yes! I got one!" He danced about excitedly while pulling his line in.

His exuberant outburst had caught the attention of a certain Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish. Kyana came splashing forward, determined to snatch Sokka's catch to keep as her own prey. This sent Sokka into a melodramatic panic.

"No! Get away from my fish, you cannibal! Stop it! Argh! Kyana drop it! _Drop it!_ Argh!"

Katara and Toph simultaneously started laughing, Katara's chuckling considerably more quiet than Toph's condescending taunt. Sokka turned to the blind earthbender as he finally gave up on retrieving his fish.

"Yeah. _Real_ funny. I giant cat-fish just stole our dinner." His voice dropped with sarcasm. Toph, though her attitude did not change, made no comment. She simply stared off at nothing, listening as Sokka tried in vain to get another fish on his hook.

The group settled down a bit as the sun lowered in the sky. Sokka had managed to make a catch for their dinner, and they ate after setting up camp for the night.

Katara noticed Toph preparing to create on of her earth tents, and dashed over, telling her to wait.

The younger girl turned to her, blind eyes fixed straight ahead. Katara smiled brightly, even knowing her friend would not be able to see it.

"I want to see," she started excitedly, making hand motions to subconsciously improve her point, not caring wether or not the girl that stood before her could see them, "if I could create one of your earth tents! Just because," she continued quickly as Toph gave her a skeptical look. "I see you do it all the time, and I've sort of been practicing..."

Toph stared past her for a moment, then shrugged. "If you really want to." She replied passively.

Katara smiled again, then thought about the stance.

_Solid and unmovable,_ she reminded herself. _Like a rock_.

She decided to do it from a standing position, so as not to result in the awkward exchange of moving out so Toph could properly inspect it.

Spreading her legs apart, she moved one forward and one back, holding her arms low to her side, palms down, she took a breath and focused. Then, she slammed her back heel into the dirt and raised her two arms upwards and inwards. Out of the earth rose a successfully constructed earth tent.

"Nicely done." Toph praised with a crooked sort of smile. She then clambered inside and bid Sokka and Katara goodnight.

Katara returned to her spot near the camp fire and set up her sleeping bag. Kyana grunted somewhere behind her, and Sokka's snores sounded softly off to her right. Cricket-Cicadas began chirping as the night began. The fire died down after a while, embers drifting quietly and less frequently up into the darkness. The night was still, without the slightest rustle of leaves in the wind.

Katara lay awake as the others fell asleep. She stared up at the glowing stars, silver pinpricks against an indigo-black blanket. The half moon rose into the sky, outshining each star without competition. It's light shone down on Katara, washing over her face and reflecting in her eyes.

Katara had always loved the moon. Her father had told her stories of the spirit who governed it. The spirit, Tui, had once lived in the Northern Water Tribe, along with the Ocean Spirit, La. The spirits had manifested themselves as Koi Fish and circled each other in a small pond, constantly keeping balance to the push and pull of the moon and ocean. It is said that as the Northern Water Tribe fell, the two spirits watched, continuing their eternal dance. They still continue their standoff, fighting for the dominance neither is ever destined to obtain. The moon was the first waterbender. People learned by watching how the moon and the ocean pulled and pushed at each other, and that is how waterbending was first learned.

Katara sighed and turned over to lay on her side. Tui and La had been waterbending for eternity. Katara was 100 years late. She needed to make up for her absence. She knew it was time to make a stand.

* * *

The next morning, the group rose just as the sun washed through the trees in the surrounding forest. A morning fog hung over the lake as the gang packed up to go. Katara rolled up her sleeping bag and tied it down onto Kyana's saddle, right next to Sokka's. Toph broke down Katara's earth tent and snatched up her satchel. Akiak flew around the blind girl's head for a moment before she snatched him out of the air and carried him with her. The group set off quickly.

"So, where exactly are we going?" Toph asked, shifting her arms to carry Akiak more efficiently. He snapped his beak playfully at her face.

Sokka, currently gazing down at a map, called back to her. "Well, I thought we were going to Omashu, but I can't really recognize our spot on the map at the moment..."

Toph stopped walking at the back of the group. Katara and Sokka turned to her as she concluded "So we're lost."

Sokka sputtered in exasperation at this, staring at her in indignation. "No! I can, uh, figure this out!"

Toph smirked as he began to fiddle frantically with his map. She tossed Akiak into the air as he took flight again, and pointed to her right.

"There's a small village about half a mile from here. It's not huge, but it's big enough to show up on my seismic sense from that distance." Said the earthbender, staring at the ground before her with the usual unfocused gaze.

Katara tested this out. She hadn't fully mastered seismic sense, but she knew she'd get there eventually.

The Avatar slammed her heal into the earth, feeling as the vibrations echoed through the ground. The vibrations barely made it half the distance that Toph had said the village was.

Feeling slightly embarrassed at her failure to spot the village, she said nothing and listened as Sokka suggested they make a detour to said village, "for food and supplies" he said.

So they headed off, Toph in the lead, in the direction she had pointed. After about a ten minute walk, they came in sight of the village.

Toph had been right; the village wasn't much. The clearing it rested in was dusty, as were the thatch buildings. Trees that bordered the clearing leaned over it, the canopy of leaves gifting the small village with shade.

Small children played in the clearing, kicking up dust as they tossed a ball around. Adults carried baskets of goods around, offering trade with each other. Elders sat in chairs on rickety porches, smiling kindly down at the playing children. The over all mood was happy, but Katara sensed something else; an underlying discontent, a fear. It was as if this village were a fish on a hook, facing the inevitable danger of capture.

The trio approached the village. Katara looked at the Earth Kingdom villagers, wondering what caused this unsettling air around their village. They seemed happy, but the elderly's smiles as they gazed after the playing children were tinted with a kind of sadness. The mood spread quickly, and soon even Katara was feeling edgy.

The people payed no attention to the passing strangers as they went about their business. Sokka beckoned them over to a meat vendor, looking grateful about getting what he referred to as "real food".

As they neared the stand, the old man running the stand smiled at them. He wore thin, pale green clothes and had a small cloth hat.

"Hello there, travelers!" He called, still smiling. "Come for some food, I take it?"

Sokka, looking melodramatically famished, stepped up to the vendor and began his business with the man. Katara and Toph stood back, entertaining Kyana and Akiak. After a moment of silence, Toph spoke.

"There's something weird about this place." She said, scratching Akiak's head.

Katara, stroking Kyana under her chin, nodded her head in agreement. After a moment, she agreed out loud, just to make sure the blind girl understood what she meant.

Toph shifted her heel slightly, then stood still. Her brow furrowed as she listened, shifting her bare right foot a few inches back.

"What is it?" Katara asked, taking her eyes off of Kyana to look at her.

Toph didn't speak for a moment as Sokka came back with a considerable amount of meat. "I don't know," she finally replied, pressing her palm to the ground.

Sokka, oblivious to the girls' misgivings, took a huge bite of meat. "It's probably nufin'." He said with his mouth full. He swallowed and took on a practical look. "It's just a little village. What could be going on here?"

As he spoke, a small wheelbarrow of cabbages was blown sky high, followed by a distant cry that vaguely resembled "My cabbages".

The children playing in the dirt roads halted, one clutching a ball and cowering towards the broken remains of the cabbage cart. The elderly in the chairs stood, staring at the wreckage in defiant fear. Other passing people jumped away from the cart.

As the dust caused by the explosion passed, a man wearing orange robes was seen leaning over a short man with a goatee wearing green linens and a cap similar to the one worn by the meat merchant.

"You have not paid your taxes!" The towering man in orange robes said, speaking as if he were keeping his temper under control.

The cabbage merchant stuttered as he spoke, glancing longingly over at his destroyed stand. "I-I-I thought the nomads had left town for the week, and was going to pay you once you returned!" He cried desperately.

Katara clenched her fists at the unfairness of the situation. That's what was wrong with this Earth Kingdom village- they were controlled by Air Nomads! Of all the things that could have humiliated the proud Earth Kingdom, this was by far the worst possibility.

Toph, though she could not see the expressions on the faces of the two arguing people, was clearly upset by this imbalance of power as well. Like Katara, her fists were clenched at her sides, and she looked ready to smash some Air Nomad face in. After all, this was _her_ nation.

Then, two things happened at once. One, the monk straightened in a condescending manner. The second thing that happened was Toph hurling a stone pillar into the monk's side.

Katara and Sokka glanced at her in surprise. Her bangs shielded most of her blank eyes, but the frown she held was enough to show the anger that one might find deep within them.

The villagers backed away from her as though she'd done something terrible. Toph took a step forward and pointed her finger threateningly at the monk, who was getting to his feet.

"Why don't you head on back to your precious temple where you belong?" She jeered, her voice ringing through the silent village.

The Air Nomad just smiled cruelly, as though he couldn't believe this little girl dared challenge him. He dusted off his robes calmly, then turned to face her.

"You are in no position to speak to me that way, little girl." He sneered, crossing his arms in contempt.

Toph matched his smile, looking like her old Earth Rumble self. She lowered her pointing hand and placed both hands on her hips. "And who do you think you are," she called. "my father?"

The monk chuckled dangerously, clearly on the verge of losing his temper. "I warn you now, silly girl. You are no match to my power." He began to whip up a small whirlwind. "It is suggested you cease running your mouth."

The meat merchant, having huddled away from the cabbage cart when it exploded, called out cautiously to Toph. "Girl," he whispered, glancing at the nomad. "You don't know what you're getting into!"

But Toph held her ground. Sokka pulled out his boomerang, and Katara watched as more airbenders appeared out of the shadows. Katara felt anger rising up in her. She was the Avatar. It was her job to protect people, and she was just standing there while her friends prepared for strife with their main antagonist. She knew which card it was time for her to play.

She stepped out in front of Toph, shielding her from view of the monk. She didn't think twice as words spilled from her mouth.

"Stop your arguing!" She cried angrily at them all, turning her head towards every nomad. "You have no right to be here! This village is Earth Kingdom!"

Another monk yelled at her from her left. "Not anymore! It is currently under siege of the Air Nomads!"

Katara turned slowly to him, calming herself. "Not for long." She replied, staring around at the fearful faces of the by-standing townspeople.

"Girl..." The meat merchant called quietly.

Katara stared into the eyes of the nomad who'd destroyed the cabbage cart for a moment, then turned to call to everyone. "It's my job to keep peace between the four nations!" She shouted. With her constantly improving seismic sense, she felt Sokka flinch, knowing what was coming. "It is my job because... I am the Avatar."

The was a shocked silence held in the clearing, finally interrupted by the disbelieving laughter of the first monk.

"You? A silly little girl? We're supposed to believe _you_ are the Avatar?" He sneered, taking an airbending stance. "I think not."

Katara and Toph, who'd relaxed a little when Katara started to back her up, took up their own bending postures. Sokka held his boomerang over his head, rewrapping his meat in a cloth and setting it down. Behind Katara, Kyana growled, the teeth deep in her throat grinding and whirring. Akiak sat on her back, screeching and ruffling his wings.

The other monks surrounding them took up their stances, and finally the first nomad struck out. He sent a sharp gust of air towards the trio, who jumped out of the way just in time. Katara moved her arms in a fluent, circular motion, then thrust them out at two monks. Water from a nearby pump flew in a sharp, crescent angle towards them, knocking them backwards.

To her right, Katara spotted Toph sending a few nomads flying, then thrusting a boulder at two others. They jumped out of the way, but before Katara could continue to watch what was happening, she was attacked by three more nomads.

The Avatar conducted water around herself, moving it to form an octopus-like form. She controlled the arms like a puppet, moving them to lash out at any nearing Air Nomad. To Katara's left, she glimpsed Sokka swinging his boomerang professionally, throwing it and catching it each time.

The skirmish was beginning to turn out in Team Avatar's favor, the Air Nomads falling back. A few times, Katara was thrown to the side by a violent gust of wind, narrowly dodging Sokka and falling on top of Toph once. Finally, the scuffle was over, and the Air Nomads retreated into the forest.

"They shouldn't be a problem anymore," concluded Katara, dusting off her hands and folding her arms.

Cheers sounded around the village, and villagers swarmed around the trio, demonstrating their gratitude by shaking hands vigorously and smiling warmly. The meat merchant even gave Sokka a whole extra Chicken-Turkey leg, much to Sokka's delight.

After that, the gang decided it was time to leave, fearing word of the Avatar's return to this small village might reach Aang and his group of exiles. They bid farewell to the still-cheering village and left. Behind them, a voice rose above the others, clearly heard by even those without advanced hearing.

"Spread the word! The Avatar has returned!"

* * *

The group traveled around after that, freeing every captive village or town they came to. The setup was working pretty well; the Avatar shows up, frees an Earth Kingdom village, and is finally gifted with the gratitude of said village.

Katara, Sokka, Toph, Akiak, and Kyana had all left a recently freed village the day before, and were currently setting up for a night's camp. The mood in the group had greatly improved since they'd been able to obtain proper food.

The fire crackled to Katara's left as she set up her sleeping bag. Sokka was pulling out meat rations for the night, clearly sneaking an extra strip of jerky for himself. Katara didn't know where Toph had gotten off to, but she could take care of herself. If she wasn't back by dinner, she'd go and get her.

Toph came back, explaining she'd needed to use nature's bathroom, and the group began dinner.

Katara brought out some of their last rice, Sokka have only cared about the meat. While the group ate, Katara watched the sky. The moon was out again. It was full tonight. A lot of time had passed since she had compared her situation to that of the two spirits, Tui and La, though it didn't seem that long ago.

Watching the moon, she felt the familiar rush of power it's light brought on these certain nights. When the moon was full and gave power to those who could bend her element. Considering the fact that she was the only waterbender left in the entire world, it was sort of like having her own personal bending-enhancer. Which was all very well, if not horribly lonely. Staring at the faces of all of her companions, Katara felt the loneliness melt away, like ice dropped in the crackling fire before her.

After bidding her friends goodnight, Katara tucked herself into her sleeping bag, closing her eyes and preparing for a good nights sleep.

The quiet of the night was soothing. Wind rustled the branches above the trio, and Katara replaced an oncoming yawn with a deep breath through her nose. She turned over, eyes still closed, her mind growing fuzzy with exhaustion.

She vaguely noticed the crunch of fallen leaves off to her right.

It was probably just Sokka getting up to take care of his business, Katara told herself. Which made sense, since the sound came from his general direction.

A few moments later, the Avatar could just sense the vibrations of footsteps coming toward her. What was Sokka doing? Had he found a particularly nice place to do his business just beyond where she lay? If this was the case, then Katara was glad to redirect him to a better spot that didn't involve her listening to him.

Drowsily, the Avatar raised her head and blinked her eyes a couple of times.

"Sokka..." She started, then stopped, looking up at the person who stood before her.

Their silhouette was cast by the fire that was dying behind them, but Katara knew it wasn't Sokka for two reasons. The first was that this person was simply too tall to be Sokka. The second was that Katara could clearly see her brother tied up behind the person, held by a few others. Kyana was restricted and being dragged along by ropes.

The person leaned lower, and Katara found herself facing the strangely kind face of an old, smiling man.

"Hello, young lady! I must apologize for this," he said as two other people seized Katara by the arms and pulled her upright. "But my orders were _very _specific."

The captured girl struggled against the people holding her, but she was unable to break free. The people pulled her over to a huge, lumpy shape that Katara immediately recognized as a Flying Bison.

Realizing her captors were Air Nomads, Katara pulled against them more desperately. It was no use, however, and after her hands were tied she was thrown up onto the bison's back next to a humiliated Sokka.

"Wasnt there another one?" Called one of the nomads.

"Forget it." Came the voice of the old man. "We've got the Avatar, we need not worry about the others. Let us be off."

Looking down, Katara spotted a few other nomads trying to control Kyana, then dragging her into a steel crate suspended beneath two Sky Bison. Katara wondered what had happened to Toph and Akiak, but was interrupted as they took flight, soaring off into the night.

_A young girl listened to the encounter from behind a shrub, her pale, lifeless eyes gazing at an insignificant patch of earth. A pale figure circled above her before landing to her left. As the Bison and nomads carried her friends away, the girl waited. And listened. And finally, when the groans of the mighty Sky Bison were no longer audible to her advanced ears, she stood, carrying the pale Arctic Seal-Owl, and silently set off in their direction, the light of the full moon reflecting eerily in her dead eyes._


	12. Chapter 12: Overheard

_Long ago, the four nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Air Nomads attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements could stop them, but when the world needed him most, he vanished. 100 years passed and Toph Beifong met the new Avatar- a waterbender named Katara. Although her waterbending skills are great, she has a lot to learn before she's ready to save anyone. But anyone who knows Katara believes she will save the world. _

* * *

_Previously, on Avatar..._

_"This isn't the last time we'll see each other, Avatar. Now that I know who you are, it won't be hard to find you again!"_

_"The four nations have been at an all out war for 100 years with the Air Nomads!"_

_"My name is Katara of the Southern Water Tribe, and I am the Avatar."_

_"There's something weird about this place."_

_"We've got the Avatar, we need not worry about the others. Let us be off."_

* * *

_Book 1: Earth_

_Chapter 12: Overheard_

**[Katara]**

The Air Nomads flew on in silence. The sun was peering over the horizon, turning the sky a pastel shade of pink and orange. Avatar Katara sat back-to-back with her brother, Sokka. Nearby, the silence was broken by the low growl of Kyana, a Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish. She was suspended between two Flying Bison in a metal cage.

There wasn't much to see in the area around them- deciduous forest rolled by beneath them as they passed over the Earth Kingdom. Katara had no idea where they were being taken; all she knew was if they were Air Nomads, it wouldn't be some place nice.

They flew on for hours. It was midday when they finally landed in a small clearing in the forest. Katara was thrown unceremoniously to the ground, followed suit by Sokka. Each was immediately tied to the trunk of a large oak tree, whose leaves were dead and golden in the nearing end of fall. Tall, crumbling ferns swiped at the Avatar's knees, and she quickly brushed a mosquito-tick off of her leg.

"What shall we feed the prisoners?" Called a small, plump monk with beady eyes. For a villain, he looked awfully pleasant. He had a small mouth which curled into a kind smile towards the others. His beady eyes were bright with curiosity, and his roundness gave him a form of a jolly appearance. A blue arrow, much like Aang's, curved over his bald head and disappeared down his back.

The old man who had captured Katara looked up and smiled back. "Oh, anything. I suppose they have not yet grown used to fasting." He said then turned back to his bowl of rice.

The plump monk scurried about, collecting two bowls of rice and two pair of chopsticks. He set them before Katara and Sokka without a word and untied they're hands feverishly. "What about the cat?" He called again. This time another monk spoke up, his voice less generous than the first two.

"Just toss it some fish," He waved his hand carelessly. "I'm sure it'll be fine either way."

The monk who had asked scuttled away, retrieved two fish from the baskets and, checking to make sure no one saw him, snuck a small, grey crab into the mix. He made his way toward Kyana, who looked up miserably as he approached. Katara watched as he smiled at her and set down the fish and crab. Kyana gave it a cautious sniff, then tore into the fish, peeling off large sections of scales. The rotating teeth in her throat whirred appreciatively as she discovered the crab.

Katara turned back to Sokka, discovering him wolfing down his rice, the chopsticks barely in use. Turning to her own bowl, the Avatar picked up her chopsticks and began to eat slowly, beginning to think up a plan for they're escape.

**[Toph]**

The blind earthbender hiked through the forest, listening to the twittering screeches of the young Arctic Seal-Owl above her. The sounds of the forest engulfed her as she made her way after her friends.

Toph paused for a moment to check her direction. She felt deep into the earth- the stones she'd been dropping every half hour echoed back to her, confirming her direction. She dropped another stone and continued on, hoping to come across some evidence of the nomads soon.

She walked on for a few more hours, dropping stones at her set intervals. Akiak screeched somewhere above her head. Finally, sensing the time was around noon, she stopped for a break.

"So, what'll it be, Akiak?" Toph sighed, pulling off her rucksack. "Nuts or... Nuts?" She stared at her companion, who simply snapped his beak in anticipation. The earthbender tossed him a nut, which he pecked at unsuccessfully. He screeched again. Toph fell back against the earth, the unseen sun warming her face.

"If I were a nomad," she started. "Where would I take the Avatar and her unspeakably annoying brother?" When no answers came, she groaned and rolled over on her face in frustration. After a few minutes she sat up and began cracking the nuts with her hands.

"I wonder what they're doing now?" Toph mused. "Probably thinking up a plan that'll get themselves killed."

**[Sokka]**

"Are you _crazy_?!" Sokka whispered harshly at his sister. "You'll get us all killed!"

From her position beside him, Katara sighed in exasperation. "Well I don't see _you_ coming up with any amazing ideas!"

Sokka face-palmed with both hands (with his hands being tied together and such).

"Come on, Sokka! It's simple!" Katara pleaded. She motioned to the river they had landed by. "You distract them, somehow, while I waterbend the river to sweep over us all in a tidal wave!"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "You missed some very important details! First of all, we'll be under that wave too, and I can't waterbend a protective bubble for myself while you do that! Second of all, your hands are tied, so it wouldn't work anyway."

Katara glared at him. "Well aren't _you_ just a fine little ray of sunshine."

Sokka shrugged. "Hey, I'm just being realistic, here. And don't forget, Kyana's still in her little cage over there. How would we get her out?"

Katara slumped in resignation. "I don't know..."

Sokka turned away from her to listen to the Air Nomads.

"...he's got plans." Said a nomad.

"What for?" Asked a second.

"Well, you know how about a hundred years ago, we had The Fast?" Began the first.

Now Sokka was interested. Of course he'd heard the stories of how the Air Nomads had gained power with they're famous One Week Fast that happened every hundred years and how they'd used it to wipe out the Water Tribes. What would they use it for now?

"Yeah," replied the second nomad.

"The Council is going to use it again. You know, finish the job."

Sokka felt a shiver go through his spine at these ominous words. 'Finish the job?' Did that mean...

Sokka turned to Katara and hissed her name. The Avatar jumped slightly, but then shot an irritated "What?" at her brother. Sokka explained all he had just heard, and his concerns towards what this meant.

"You think...? But then... I suppose... But it..." She stuttered, seeming unable to comprehend the horror of this concept. Sokka nodded, understanding her.

"But of course," Katara whispered, shooting the nomads a nervous glance. "They'll target the Fire Nation next! They wouldn't target the kingdom in exact opposition to them until they're sure they're strong enough!"

Sokka had not thought of that. "What do we do?" He asked her. Katara shook her head. "I-I don't know! If only Toph were here... She'd know how to get us out of here."

Sokka thought for a moment. Sure, Toph would be able to see, considering they were touching the ground, but what could she think of that they hadn't tried already? And it was better that she and Akiak had gotten away. Sokka wondered how that had come to happen in the first place.

"We'll, she's not, so we'll just have to get along without her." Sokka replied. He silently wondered how Toph was getting on.

**[Toph]**

"How far did they go?!" Toph yelled to the wind as Akiak screeched. She'd sensed the burnt forest of the Freedom Fighters a, few miles off, about an hour ago. The angry earthbender kicked a pebble, listening as it fell back to earth a little ways away.

She trudged on through the forest with the Arctic Seal-Owl screaming obliviously overhead. She walked on for another hour, when she froze suddenly. Akiak had gone silent minutes ago. Toph immediately fell into a bending stance, leaning back on her right foot and holding up her arms.

"Who's there?!" She called. She couldn't feel anything, but why had Akiak gone silent. She stood for a few more minutes, then gave up and guessed he'd just flown ahead.

She took about three steps before she was hoisted unceremoniously into the air.

**[Katara]**

The sun glared down at the nomads and the tied-up siblings, who had resorted to struggling against their bindings. Sokka was craning his neck to see if he still had his boomerang. Katara was trying to point out the fact that he'd be able to feel it pressing against his back, but as always, her brother was much too occupied doing things his own way.

The day dragged on. The nomads had decided to set up camp for the night and had begun to prop up their tents. Katara and Sokka remained bound to the tree, having given up on their fruitless escape attempts. Once more, Katara looked toward the waxing moon, thinking of Tui and La, of moon and ocean; the never ending cycle of peace and prosperity.

Katara thought of Toph again, wondering if she were alright. _She's tough,_ she told herself. _She can make it alone. _

* * *

A branch snapped nearby. Katara woke with a lurch. Sokka snored beside her, drool dripping comically from his open mouth. Looking around, the Avatar nudged her brother. He snorted and slid into consciousness.

"Wha? I'm up... Up..." He looked towards the sky as though checking the time. "Katara!" He hissed, glaring at his sister. "It's barely passed midnight! What's wrong with you?!"

Katara shook her head vigorously, reaching her finger up to press it to her lips with slight difficulty. Sokka gave her a confused look until she pointed out into the woods. Understanding, he glared out at the place she was pointing, listening. No sound came except for the rustling of wind between the trees.

"Katara, are you sure you heard- OW!" Katara had kicked her brother's foot to get him to shut up. "Sokka, don't talk so loud! You'll wake the airbenders!" She hissed angrily, turning her attention back to the forest. All was still.

She slumped against the tree in defeat, resting her head on her knees and staring at her folded hands. Her braid lay limp over her shoulder and she took it in her bound hands. Sokka looked over at her, a frown crossing over his face. He leaned over to her in an attempt at comforting her (though it just ended up being awkward considering their binds).

Katara gave Sokka a pointed look and he leaned away, looking abashed. "So-rry," he muttered.

Behind them, a loud _crack_ sounded through the forest, making both of them jump. They leaned around the tree in a vain attempt to catch a glance at whatever had made the sound. Then, a lone bird call echoed through the night, and several Air Nomads poked their heads out of their tents. Katara and Sokka exchanged a glance. Why did that sound familiar?

Then two things happened at once: The earth beneath them all trembled and pillars threw tents and nomads sky-high and a screech echoed around them. The siblings' mouths fell open as they watched several dark figures leap from the trees and fall into hand-to-hand combat with the nomads. One of the taller figures back flipped over to the tree where Katara and Sokka were tied, cutting them loose. Katara looked up at the face of their savior, and was surprised to find it was someone she had so recently parted with.

"Jet!" She cried in astonishment as her brother struggled to his feet beside her. "What are you all doing here?!"

Jet smirked, a sprig of wheat placed so characteristically between his teeth. "We ran into your friend in the forest. She told us what had happened to you all, so we decided to come and help out." As if on cue, Toph appeared out of the earth at his left, Akiak circling and landing in her arms.

"Toph!" Katara and Sokka cried simultaneously, rushing forward to hug her. "We were so worried about you!" Katara exclaimed.

"I told you she could take care of herself, Katara." Sokka added disdainfully. Toph pushed them both off. "Alright, I get it, you both missed me." She turned around. "Now I think we've got more pressing matters on our hands." She addressed the ongoing battle and launched herself into the fray, Akiak flying above her.

Jet shrugged and led Katara and Sokka into the battle. He hooked a sword around a nomad's foot, though he managed to catch himself with his bending. He launched a kick at Jet, who ducked and countered quickly. Katara and Sokka were immediately occupied by two tall, lean airbenders who separated them quickly. Katara barely glimpsed Sokka taking out his boomerang before she was blasted by a gust of air. Spinning to catch herself, she whipped out a water whip from her pouch and slashed at the nomad. He parried with a blast of air and knocked her backwards again. Summoning her strength, Katara launched the water into his face, knocking him to the ground. She spun around, confronting another air nomad. Katara slammed her foot down, bending the earth to her will. _Strong and steady,_ she thought. Dropping the water, she raised her arms, open palms facing down. The ground trembled and swallowed the nomad girl up to her neck. She struggled angrily as Katara left her.

Looking around for others in need of help, she spotted Pipsqueak and The Duke bashing airbenders over the heads with logs, shouting battle cries joyously. Longshot and Smellerbee stood back-to-back, surrounded by four nomads. Sneers punched an airbender in the mouth while Jet fought a bender with his hook swords. Toph had pounded open Kyana's cage, and the Flying-Snow Leopard-Fish rampaged through the crowd, throwing Air Nomads over her head in her wake. The blind earthbender herself was currently taking on two nomads, held in a motionless standoff until Toph raised two boulders, hitting each nomad in the head. Something flew past Katara's ear and she turned. Sokka's boomerang had returned to his hands, and he was now swinging his club frantically at a single nomad. Katara leaped into action, slashing Sokka's opponent across the face with a blade of water so strong it pushed him to his knees.

"I could've handled that myself!" Sokka shouted angrily, his hands on his hips. "Don't be such a baby Sokka, prioritize!" She yelled back, turning back towards the fight. She vaguely caught something about him always being the one to prioritize, but she ignored him. She leapt into action, smashing two nomads over the head with a boulder, slamming an airbender in the chest with an earth pillar, and punching one in the mouth. The Air Nomads seemed to be retreating, rushing back towards their Sky Bison, helping the fallen onto the backs of the great beasts.

Finally the last two conscious nomads were helping a fellow onto the last bison. Out of the corner of her eye, Katara saw Longshot notch an arrow, aiming it at the back of one nomad. She turned, about to say that no further violence was necessary, when Jet raised his hand, shaking his head. "Let them run," he told the archer as the airbenders took to the skies. He turned to Katara, Sokka, Toph, and his Freedom Fighters and yelled "Victory!" A collective cheer rose from the surrounding people, Akiak screeching and Kyana howling her delight.

* * *

"We can't thank you enough," Katara said to Jet admirably as the sun rose over the horizon.

Jet waved his hand carelessly. "It was nothing, the pleasure was all ours. Besides, the real person to thank is Toph. If it wasn't for her, we wouldn't have known where to find you." He nodded toward the blind earthbender, who was busy catching up with The Duke and Pipsqueak.

"How did you guys find each other?" Katara questioned, watching as Toph, Pipsqueak and The Duke all howled with laughter at something Toph had said.

Jet laughed slightly. "We ran into her in the forest hours ago. Well, more like she accidentally sprung a trap and got yanked up into a tree. She was pretty angry when we found her, but after realizing who we were, she calmed down a bit. We asked her why she was alone and she told us what had happened to you two. I gathered up the Freedom Fighters and we set off. The other kids are waiting a little ways South. Didn't want them caught up in the mess." He looked away from the laughing trio. "Anyways, we should probably be going. Haven't got much time, you see. The other kids get upset if we're gone for too long." He saluted Katara casually. "See you around, Avatar."

Katara waved as he walked away. Sokka joined her, slightly glaring after Jet. "What's up with you?" Katara asked her brother. He seemed to awake from a daydream. "Huh? Oh, nothing." He shrugged. "We should get going. We need to catch Toph up on what's going on."

Katara had nearly forgotten about the Air Nomad's terrible plans. She nodded solemnly and they began to head over to Toph, who was getting enthusiastically hugged goodbye by The Duke. Pipsqueak helped her pry him off and the two waved goodbye. When the siblings had reached her, Toph looked slightly embarrassed.

"Ready to go?" Sokka asked as Akiak circled above them. Toph nodded and the trio gave a final wave goodbye to the Freedom Fighters. They walked off into the forest, distant shouts of the retreating Freedom Fighters echoing in their ears: "Sneers, hurry up!" "Aw, shut up Jet, I'm hurrying!" "Has anyone seen Smellerbee?" "Smellerbee? I think she went off to clean her knives!" "I'm right here, you ding bats!" "Sheesh, okay!" "Hey Longshot, nice shot back there..." The shouting faded as the distance between the two groups grew. Katara wondered of they would ever meet again.

_As the sun rose over a misty forest, the trio made their way away from the battlefield. Though the weight of serious news lay heavily on their shoulders, they laughed and joked, simply glad to be back together. _


End file.
